Instructify

World War II was a dangerous time when pretzels attacked croissants and sushi attacked cheeseburgers. The Gulf War conflict saw chicken nuggets dropped on unsuspecting kebobs.

That’s not exactly what you’ll find in history books, but Stefan Nadelman’s brilliant five-and-a-half minute film Food Fight recreates our country’s military incursions and involvements since 1939 using food as its main characters. You’ll see egg rolls, French fries, bagels, and falafel engaged in combat and culinary violence that will no doubt provoke conversation about warfare and world affairs. Students may have trouble deciphering which foods represent which countries, but a handy cheat sheet fills you in on why the beef stroganoff keeps multiplying and how the kebobs represent different interests. The site also lists which battles are depicted.

Food Fight is an imaginative way to synthesize almost a century’s worth of aggression, and with a little more imagination, you could find a variety of ways to use the film in your classroom: discussion starter, model project, or sample for media analysis. Just be careful to keep your bag lunch out of sight—you might be drawn into additional combat. –ROSS WHITE

Food Fight

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