Eat: The Story of Food

Gr 10 Up—This series traces the development of food and food technology and their impact on human culture, from prehistoric hunter-gatherers to the first agrarian settlements to the cutting-edge science of today. The series is full to the brim with interviews of well-known personalities (Rachael Ray) and important innovators, such as Howard Moskowitz, whose groundbreaking research into customer preferences has led to the diversification of food marketing. Through short biographic segments, viewers learn of "food revolutionaries" who brought new tastes and developments in food technology (fast food, flash freezing). There is a lot of fascinating content here, some of which may concern viewers and instructors. Mentions of "food pornography" and "food orgasms" punctuate the sensual nature of certain segments. Cooks detail how to prepare bison penis and recount eating testicles. References detailing the use of sausages as phallic symbols in fertility rituals, comparing the sucking of oysters to performing oral sex, and using food as aphrodisiacs also crop up. Potentially problematic material also includes descriptions of the process of distilling rum and brewing beer while championing their intoxicating properties. As a technological issue, the 45-minute episodes contain no scene select functionality.