Soylent Green

True story - happened yesterday

Okay, so on Monday we're working on the digestive system, so I put an "EXTRA CREDIT HOMEWORK QUESTION" on the board - What kind of food is Soylent Green?

Answer: It is from a 1973 movie called Soylent Green, starring Charleton Heston. In the movie, the government supplies all the food and it is secretly made from people because all other food resources are exhausted due to global warming and over population. The public believes it is made from algae or something like that, but it is really made from recycled people. They look like green crackers/cookie.

Thursday night for fun, to reward the kids that did the assignment, I made soylent green. Used premade sugar cookie dough and neon green food coloring. Remixed, reshaped into ovals, and stamped an "S" on each one using a paper clip I bent into a mini branding iron. Baked, and they came out pretty good looking! So in each class I rewarded the students who did the extra credit. But my "best class" for some reason, no one did the project, and since I had plenty, I gave everyone a Soylent Green. They kept questioning me what it was, and I would just say SOYLENT GREEN. One of them found one of the papers I had put up on my bulletin board because a student printed a picture of soylent green on hers. The took it off and read on the back it said it was made from dead old people. They wanted to know if that was true, I pointed at a pc and said "google it!"

At the same time, one of the kids picked up the recycled Hormel Snack Tray I was using and read ingredients off bottom. So you hear one girl at PC yell, "its made from people" and the kid with the tray is saying "pork, beef, ..."

This triggers one very serious blue eyed blond girl to ask me if their was meat in it or not because she is a vegetarian. I asked her is it okay if a vegetarian eats a vegetarian? Some other kid says "No, that makes her a cannibal"

The blonde say I don't want to be a cannibal. I really need to know if it has meat in it our not. I never directly say yes or no. I'm responding, did it taste like meat? She's really stressing out. After the class has been amazed by her, I say, if it taste like a cookie, it must be a cookie!

Monday I'll probably get a talk to from the principal because I found out her dad is on the school board, so I'll probably get accused of feeding my students dead meat people cookies.

Two of my students found the whole movie online somewhere, watched it all and enjoyed it...so then my efforts were not wasted!