When it comes to food waste education, finding the right resources for teachers can be difficult. This education about food and its effect on the planet is crucial to a more sustainable future. Because of this, we not only need robust resources, but effective ways of communicating the information as well. Several groups have been working on this, including The Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition Foundation (BCFN), Purdue University, and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Recently they have all focused on creating resources targeted towards teachers and grade school students.
The Barilla Center for Nutrition Foundation
One example of these educational resources is the “We, food, our Planet” program at BCFN. This program focuses on creating educational resources to the public for educating students about environmental issues as well as food.
Some of the topics that they cover include planet conscious diets, food inequity and security, food waste, and how we all fit into a system larger than ourselves. Every topic relates back to the same overall goal, to help all generations learn about topics that affect all of us and how to act. All of these topics have downloadable content that is available for free to anyone who may want to use it.
This program not only provides students with useful and digestible content about a number of topics, but it also offers training for teachers as well. By taking this step, BCFN has invested not only in the information that they are providing to the youth of the world, but they are also making sure that the content can be taught in a more effective way.
Purdue University
Purdue University has followed a similar path, creating a food waste curriculum that focuses on education for K-5, but is scalable for all levels of education. They look at not only food waste as an issue, but also some solutions, including a resources for starting a school garden. To make this even more convenient, Purdue University has also created assessments to go along with all resources, making it very easy to integrate into a classroom. At the bottom of their page, you can find a list of other resources to help expand your knowledge further or to find groups who are doing work in this area.
World Wildlife Fund
The final groups that is also offering resources for food waste is the World Wildlife Fund. Their program focuses on creating food waste warriors who take action in their own lives and locally to make a change. With materials for grades K-12, they offer an abundance of resources for students to be more eco-conscious in their food habits. They also provide a number of resources to help keep track of your habits at home in a systemized manner.
All three of these groups offer great resources for teachers, students, or anyone trying to learn more about food waste. We believe that education is a crucial part to helping reduce poor food habits while encouraging habits that are happy for the planet and everything on it.
