Can Disney Foods be Healthy?

For my Cycle 1 Spring Term independent, I looked at Disney World snack foods to see if they could abide by the district's health and wellness policy! Check out my progress below:

GOAL(s): What was the goal (or goals) of the experience? What did you plan to accomplish/learn? What resources did you plan to use? Why did you choose this topic/product/placement?

To create 4 different dishes that sort of replicate the food served in the Walt Disney World parks. I am going to make 2 to try and replicate their recipes, and the other 2 to try to make the same dishes, but healthy and/or vegan, if possible. Oh, and I’m going to record myself creating them and make it into a video.

I wanted to do this project because I have been really into cooking and baking videos lately, and so I thought it’d be fun to make my own! I also really missed Disney World and so I wanted to make food from the parks, because if you can’t bring the girl to the park, you can bring the park to the girl.

OUTCOME: What were the actual outcomes? Did you meet your goals?

In a way, I met my goals. My goals kind of morphed halfway through the project into something different. I looked more into ethical consumption of fruit, and if the health and wellness policy actually works. I created two different dishes, and they abided by the wellness policy, so yes! I met my goals.

REFLECTION: What did you learn through this project/process? What were your take-a-ways? What worked for you? What didn't work for you? What challenges did you face? What would you do differently in the future?

I learned a lot about the ethics behind pineapple production, which I didn't think I would! I also learned the different ways of calculating percentages of fat and sugar in foods using the nutritional guides, which was really cool. I didn't expect the project to go the way it did, but I sure am glad it turned out the way it did. I think some of my take-a-ways include:

1. There is no ethical consumption under capitalism, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to be an ethical consumer in any way you can.
2. Pretzels take longer to make than you'd think, and don't wait until the last minute (but even if you do, just keep your cool and things will turn out alright).
3. Reach out to people as soon as the idea to reach out comes into your head, because you never know if they're going to take 5 minutes or 5 months to get back to you.

EVIDENCE: What evidence can you show to support your reflection and outcomes? Include items such as: project plans, research notes, journals, photos/videos, final products, audio recordings, feedback, etc).

See below for my evidence!

Here is my project plan:

Here is the rubric for this project:

Here are my notes from this project (they also include a big chunk of my thought process from this project):

Here's an example of a part of a journal I wrote for this project:

Here's my video of me creating the Dole Whip!

Overall, I really enjoyed this project! I feel like I learned a lot, created a lot of new things, and had fun doing it. It was a perfect balance of new learning and personal interest. I aspire to have this level of equality in future projects.