Food choices are influenced by a variety of factors. FES 6 is about understanding the agency and ability each individual has to make informed food decisions within the context of their own lives. 

This Standard Means

  • Food choices can involve many aspects, including financial (in)security, physical health, emotions/mental health, seasonal/regional availability, food access, who made it, and more.
  • We can incorporate our knowledge about social, emotional, nutritional, and environmental impact from previous standards to make informed food choices.
  • Processed and unprocessed foods affect the body in different ways. We can make thoughtful decisions about when and how often to eat types of food. 
  • We can feel empowered to have autonomy over our bodies through our choices around food.
  • When we understand the factors involved in food choices, we have the opportunity to practice food behaviors that invest in lifelong health.
  • Students who demonstrate understanding can find, prepare, and/or plan a nutrient-dense meal or recipe and explain their choices for each ingredient.

FES 6 In Action

“They were more open [to trying something new] after I gave them more background about the food they would be tasting.”

SnackTime Explorers Educator in Hammond, IN, 2024

How to bring FES 6 to Your Students 

Try these examples of real-world community experiences with your students aged K-12 to help them understand the importance of food in their daily lives! 

  1. Arrange a trip to a farmer’s market to observe foods from different groups/colors/categories.
  2. Invite a local chef or connect with food service professionals to demonstrate cooking that helps show ‘eating the rainbow’ in action.
  3. Engage in a food science experiment or demonstration on sugar intake, food dyes, sodium content, or other food additives. 
  4. Arrange a field trip to a market to analyze food labels and make a list of kid-approved nutrient-dense swaps for common snacks.
  5. Create advertisements for nutrient-dense foods to share with others.
  6. Using a pre-packaged meal, analyze the nutritional and economic impact of the meal when compared to the same meal being made from fresh ingredients at home.
  7. Analyze a restaurant menu in order to identify nutrient-dense swaps.
  8. Tour a local grocery store, bodega or farmers market and develop materials to help highlight nutrient-dense foods.
  9. Tour a local food bank and interview the registered dietitian staff on ways they work to consider health in food distributions.
  10.  Put together a cookbook or nutritious recipes and taste test recipes that align with SNAP-Ed, EFNEP, and/or 4-H requirements.

Grade Specific Competencies

  1. I can talk about a food that makes me feel good.
  2. I know that people eat many kinds of food.
  3. I can name different kinds of food.

Play-Based Activities:

  • Dramatic play: incorporate items to allow store/market play; add seasonal play food to dramatic play area 
  • Pretend to prepare a meal for the stuffies in your classroom
  • Sort and compare foods
  • Visit the school cafeteria and look at different types of food served
  • Create a scavenger hunt for pictures of food around the room (or in picture books!)
  • Collect menus from local food establishments and encourage kids to pretend play making and taking orders
  • Explore photos of different foods eaten all around the world
  • Encourage each child to make a “favorite foods” poster with drawn or cut/collage photos from magazines
  • Create an ABC of Foods class book
  • Sort fruits and vegetables by color
  • Reading area: Add cookbooks/food magazines with pictures and supermarket circulars
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Grade-Specific Competencies

  1. I can identify trends and patterns within my own daily eating habits (i.e  fast food breakfast on Mondays, vegetable vs. fruit consumption).
  2. I can talk about how different foods make me feel.
  3. I can describe what a balanced plate of food could include.
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Grade-Specific Competencies

  1. I want to know about the components of balanced meals.
  2. I can talk about the differences between whole and processed foods.
  3. I can analyze ingredients and recipes, using the information to create or identify alternatives that my body might need.
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Grade-Specific Competencies

  1. I can reflect upon my daily food choices and take actions that promote my overall health, growth, and development. 
  2. I can compare and contrast the nutritional and economic values of prepared, packaged, and homemade meals of the same content.
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Grade-Specific Competencies

  1. I can explain the long-term benefits of nutritious foods.
  2. I want to know more about making food choices based on various health determinants (i.e people with diabetes, food allergies, high blood pressure, or heart disease).
  3. I can talk about resource management (e.g. meal planning, creating a shopping list, checking fridge/cabinets in advance, minimizing food waste, creating a budget, gathering coupons or EBT/WIC vouchers).
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