Farm to Table
Your young gardeners know that soil-grown plants produce fruits, vegetables, and grains, but what happens between the farm and the grocery store? Teaching students about our complex food system is the next step in their journey to understanding how and what we eat. Much of our food is processed and packaged and then travels hundreds, sometimes thousands, of miles before arriving in our homes. Is this system efficient? Is it sustainable? Let your young gardeners decide!
This month features food-system topics to explore through your gardening program. We also highlight Farm to Table & Beyond, the second book in the Linking Food and the Environment (LiFE) curriculum series from Teachers College Columbia University. See Corn Investigations and Processing Effects (below), sample lessons from this curriculum.
Background and Lessons
Table Talk - Teaching students about our food system.
Farm to Table & Beyond - A brief intro to this new curriculum.
Lesson: Corn Investigations - Explore corn and speculate
on how corn is changed into
oil, syrup, and flour.
Lesson: Processing Effects - Construct knowledge about
the environmental effects of
our food-processing system.
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