“As educators, we are responsible for providing an environment that maximizes student development and achievement. According to the USDA, nutritional status directly affects the mental capacity of school-aged children. Students who know how to make healthier food choices will reap the benefits, leading to fewer absences, more on task behavior in class, and higher exam scores. This standard requires that educators inform students about how to make choices that will maximize their capacity for success.”
– Bill Hook, Principal, Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences
Expectations
Students who demonstrate understanding can: implement an action plan for bringing awareness of food equity and choices to surrounding communities.
Grade-Specific Competencies
- Use MyPlate to make food swaps, explaining the reason for the exchange.
- Make informed food choices when presented with options by designing a meal for their family.
- Explain food in equitable terms, e.g. all people need food access, clean water is necessary, grocery stores are important to communities and their health.
Real World and Community Experiences
- Organize a food drive for a local food pantry.
- Create a poster campaign for food swaps.
- Write short articles for a class newsletter around nutrient-dense family meals and food swaps.
Grade-Specific Competencies
- Develop a school advocacy project about nutritional information of school-provided lunches using resources such as the school cafeteria manager, the USDA and FDA websites, and federal nutrition programs.
- Find, adapt, or create recipes and prepare them in class to share with peers.
- Produce informational posters/flyers/pamphlets sharing information about food with the larger school community.
Real World and Community Experiences
- Organize a food drive for a local food pantry.
- Write letters to politicians in support of food-related policy.
- Write letters to grocery store corporate offices about the need for more stores in underserved communities.
- Create and drive a campaign encouraging students to make nutrient-dense choices at lunch while writing to lunchroom providers to encourage more fresh food be provided.
Grade-Specific Competencies
- Prepare a grocery list for the family that supports positive food behaviors.
- Create a meal from local foods to share with the community outside of school.
- Develop an advocacy project to bring awareness about food deserts within the surrounding communities.
Real World and Community Experiences
- Organize a food drive for a local food pantry.
- Write letters to politicians in support of food-related policy.
- Volunteer at a food pantry.
- Write letters to grocery store corporate offices about the need for more stores in underserved communities.
Grade-Specific Competencies
- Compare and contrast nutritional information in a variety of foods to bring awareness to and promote positive eating options for yourself, family, and others.
- Develop awareness of global food systems and advocate for change.
- Develop a campaign to promote the participation of youth in volunteering and/or donating to food banks.
- Develop awareness/action campaign around diseases associated with poor nutrition.
Real World and Community Experiences
- Organize a food drive for a local food pantry.
- Write letters to politicians in support of food-related policy.
- Volunteer at a food pantry.
- Write letters to grocery store corporate offices about the need for more stores in underserved communities.