The Impact of Food: A Lesson Worth Teaching

As a student teacher, you are responsible for two things: creating engaging lessons, assignments, and tests; and keeping your sanity. Fortunately, while working with an AP Environmental Science class in Philadelphia, I was able to do both. Furthermore, I was able to make a “green” impact on the students I was working with. I consider this a green success story because students were introduced to viable, environmentally-friendly food options.

When my cooperating teacher approached me about creating an out-of-the-box assessment for the end of the chapter, I was rather excited. Our class was finishing up a chapter in our book discussing the unforeseen costs of food, and this was the perfect opportunity to take a creative approach to gauge the students’ knowledge about the environmental impact of the foods they eat. I started out by welcoming the students, one at a time, into their “exam”. I handed them a menu for an imaginary restaurant with some rather outlandish dishes available (i.e. Leatherback Turtle Soup flown in from Oregon, and Patagonian Toothfish caught via long-line), which they then had five minutes to look over.

After perusing the menu options, I asked them questions like, “Give me the most environmentally unfriendly meal on the menu, appetizer to desert,” and, “What would be the best meal for the environment, under $50?” The answers that followed were right on mark. For example, the students recognized that the Patagonian Toothfish, known to most as Chilean Sea Bass, is terrible for the environment because it is over-fished, and long-lines trap many other species. The students were also able to explain that options such as the sheep stomach, although being shipped from Australia, was much more environmentally-friendly: Sheep stomach is shipped on a sailboat rather than by plane or cargo ship, and sheep are nonnative species threatening the native wild kangaroo population. I feel confident that, if given the option between the two, the students would choose sheep stomach over the Toothfish.

When teaching students about environmental issues, it is important to do something that will make an impact. Although scientists debate the exact year, it is widely accepted that if the current trends continue, there will not be enough food to feed the population within the next 100 years. The idea behind this activity was to forgo a traditional test, and provide an assessment that the students would not only remember, but could relate to. Most, if not all, high school students have looked over a menu and decided what to order at a restaurant. This activity revealed that even the simplest of decisions, like what to order from a menu, has an impact on the environment, and displayed ways that the students could make positive green choices in their own lives.

What green food lessons have you successfully passed along? Share your stories below!