Question

Use you Thanksgiving Meal… or any meal during the Holiday break

Take a picture or video of your plate…with any platform you are familiar.

your recording should include the following:

List the major source of energy, producers, levels of consumers, etc

Remember to include creams,sauces, condiments and garnishes!!!

My food items I had were yams, collard green with neck bones, Mac and cheese, stuffing, turkey , ham, hawian sweet potato roll, deviled eggs and potato salad

Answer 1

I can’t take the photo or video for you, but here’s a clear plan, a short script you can read while filming, and a breakdown of the trophic (energy) roles for every item on your plate — including sauces, creams, and garnishes.

How to record (quick guide)
- Use your phone in landscape or portrait—whatever your platform prefers. Start with an overhead or 45° shot of the whole plate, then do short close-ups (3–5 seconds) of each item.
- Speak clearly and slowly. Point or gesture to each item as you name it. Mention sauces/condiments (gravy, mayo, butter, etc.).
- Keep the whole video 30–90 seconds if this is a class assignment. You can read the short script below.

Overall energy flow to mention
- Major source of energy: the Sun (drives photosynthesis in plants).
- Producers: all plants and plant-based crops (yams, sweet potatoes, collards, wheat, potatoes, corn, herbs, vegetable oils).
- Primary consumers: farm animals that eat plants (cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys) and insects/organisms that eat plants. In agriculture, most livestock function as primary consumers because they’re fed plant-based feed.
- Secondary/tertiary consumers: humans (you) eating the animals and plant products.
- Decomposers: bacteria and fungi that recycle leftovers and food waste back to the soil.

Item-by-item trophic breakdown (assumptions noted)
- Yams / sweet potatoes (and the Hawaiian sweet potato roll filling): producers — sweet potato plants. Energy path: Sun → sweet potato (producer) → you (consumer).
- Collard greens (with neck bones): collards = producers (plant). Neck bones = pork (pig) — pig usually fed plants, so pig = primary consumer. Energy path: Sun → collards (plant) → you; Sun → crops (feed) → pig (primary consumer) → you.
- Mac and cheese: pasta = wheat (producer). Cheese = milk from cows (cow is a primary consumer fed on plants). Butter/cream in the sauce = dairy (cow). Energy path: Sun → wheat & forage plants → cow and wheat → you.
- Stuffing: usually bread (wheat — producer) plus vegetables/herbs (producers), maybe butter/stock (dairy/animal products). Energy: Sun → wheat/vegetables → you (or Sun→grain→livestock→you if stock made from meat).
- Turkey: turkey is often fed grain, so functions as a primary consumer (omnivore but in farming mostly plant-fed). Energy path: Sun → crops/feed → turkey → you.
- Ham: pork from pig (primary consumer if pig fed plants). Energy path: Sun → crops/feed → pig → you.
- Deviled eggs: eggs from chickens (chicken is primary consumer fed grain), plus mayonnaise (eggs + oil from plants) — so producers and animal products combined. Energy path: Sun → grain/oil crops → chicken/crops → you.
- Potato salad: potatoes = producers. Mayo/sour cream = eggs/oil/dairy (plant + animal sources). Energy: Sun → potatoes & feed crops → animal/dairy → you.
- Sauces/gravy/creams (if present): gravy from meat drippings = animal energy (meat = animal consumer); cream/butter = dairy (cow). Must mention these because they add animal-derived energy in addition to plant energy.
- Condiments/garnishes (herbs, parsley, paprika, pickles, relish): producers — plants. Also oils and vinegar are plant-derived.

A simple spoken script you can use (about 30–45 seconds)
“Hi — here’s my holiday plate. The major source of energy is the Sun, which plants use to grow. The producers on my plate are the yams, collard greens, potatoes, wheat in the roll and stuffing, and all herbs and oils. The animal products — turkey, ham (pork neck bones), cheese, eggs, and dairy in the mac and cheese — come from farm animals that mostly ate plants, so those animals are primary consumers. I, as the human, eat both the plants and the animals, making me a higher-level consumer. Don’t forget the sauces and condiments: gravy, butter and mayonnaise add animal-derived energy, while garnishes and oils are plant-based. Finally, leftovers will be broken down by decomposers — bacteria and fungi — returning nutrients to the soil.”

Extra notes you can mention (optional)
- Energy transfer is inefficient: only ~10% of energy moves from one trophic level to the next (so plants contain most of the original solar energy).
- If you want to be exact about neck bones: say “pork neck bones” if they were from pig; if they were from another animal, state that.
- If you want a scripted version for each food item (line-by-line) or a longer narration, tell me how long the video should be and I’ll customize it.

Want me to make a printed checklist or a 60-second script tailored exactly to how you plate things?