A Food Curriculum For Children

One of the students with her journal.

As much as young children need to learn to read in order to have access to the best ideas that society has to offer, there is also a need for children to learn about food, or nutrition, in order to have access to the best healthy eating alternatives. That is why there is a curriculum that has been developed at the elementary school level. It teaches all about the world of food, from how plants grow to the finer points of eating aesthetics.

The founder of the FOOD STUDIES INSTITUTE, Antonia Demas, has created the Food Is Elementary curriculum for children in grades K to 6, and has managed to fit it together with the mission of her organization. For, the Food Studies Institute strives to improve the lives of children through food-based solutions. The expertise comes from staff and board members, who have experience with health care and education. Antonia, herself has a Ph.D. in education, nutrition, and anthropology from Cornell University and has 40 years of experience in developing food-based curricula for various age groups.



The curriculum developed for elementary students utilizes many hands-on, interactive experiences. Throughout their learning experiences in this program, students maintain a weekly journal, in which they write down new vocabulary words, health information, nutrition measurements and calculations, observations, geographic information, food history, and food art. From the journaling alone, it is obvious that the approach is across a broad spectrum of learning skills and subjects.

This curriculum is written so that it can be adapted to any population of students, including those in special education and outside of the recommended grade range. Parental participation is encouraged, as parents are invited to help with any part of the curriculum. In fact, part of the program involves students interviewing the parents about aspects of family food use. Once the school year has ended, students are encouraged to bring the journals home to share with their parents.

Some of the methods incorporated in the curriculum include:
"* Educating children about the relationship between food choices and disease prevention.
 *Encouraging a child's natural curiosity and creativity to be the foundation of learning.
 *Providing children with the life skill of food preparation through hand-on interactive experience.
 *Introducing healthful foods through the traditions and arts of different cultures.
 *Involving families and community in classroom teaching, school meals, gardens, and collaborative mural projects."

Hands-on in the garden.

Denise Jackson, a parent aide, had this to say about the curriculum,"This is the most creative, organized, and crucial program I have ever been involved in. What a wonderful thing for our children not only to learn to cook and eat healthy, but to be exposed to so many different cultures. I love it!"

Part of food preparation is cutting up tomatoes, with adult supervision, of course.

Since there is still a great deal of concern about children who are overweight and inclined to eat calorie-laden foods, a curriculum that provides hands-on opportunities, including sampling healthier food choices, may be one way of addressing this issue. After all, you can't make healthier food choices if you don't know about them.

Thanks for information from this article on Pollination Project: https://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/antonia-demas-food-studies-website-development/; this article about the curriculum on the Food Studies Institute: http://www.foodstudies.org/#!curriculum/ccei; and the above link.

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