Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will:

•Assess their last meal based on freshness, nutritional value, and how the food was packaged.

•Develop a list of strategies for reducing food-related trash.

•Use viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret a video clip.

•Identify the benefits of eating seasonally and locally.

•Create and reflect on a plan for one meal that includes only food that is seasonal, local, and unpackaged.

Teaching Process

1. Display the following instructions and have students complete the exercise as a warm-up activity:

Write down everything you ate and drank at your last meal. Circle the foods that have been processed in some way. Next to each item, list details about the packaging it came in. What value did the packaging add? Is that packaging recyclable? What do you think will happen to the packaging that was thrown away?

2. Invite some of the students to share what they’ve written. Discuss:

•Did members of the class eat more processed food or food made from fresh ingredients?

•How healthy do students think the meal was?

•Why did students choose to eat the food that they did? (Possible answers: Needed something fast and easy, my mother made it for me, I love salads, etc.)

•How do our systems for obtaining food affect our choices about what we eat?

•What types of food had the most packaging?

•What happened to the packaging when the meal was over?

3. Explain that in 2006, food packaging in the U.S. was responsible for about 50 million tons of garbage. That’s 20 percent of all our trash! (Source: Environmental Protection Agency) Often, our food-related trash comes from take out containers that are only used for a few minutes before being thrown away. How can our choices about what we eat both increase our health and reduce the amount of trash we generate at each meal? Brainstorm a class list of possible strategies.

4. Tell students that a man named Colin Beavan and his family in New York City decided that they were going to figure out as many ways as they could to reduce the trash that they generate – including minimizing the amount of packaging in their food. Colin blogged about what his family learned. Show the video clip for this lesson and ask students to listen carefully for food-related trash-reduction strategies that are not on their class list. Then, update the class list with any new ideas that were identified.

5. Explain that the Beavans also learned that the average distance that food travels to an American’s plate is 1,500 miles (Source: John Hendrickson, “Energy use in the U.S. Food System: A Summary of existing research and analysis”). That means food has to be picked long before its peak ripeness, so it isn’t as fresh and flavorful. Also, all that transporting of food uses fossil fuels and creates pollution. They also learned that buying foods grown locally helps the local economy. So they eat only seasonal foods that were grown within 250 miles of their home. For them, this meant shopping at the local Farmer’s Market, changing their eating habits, and learning new ways to prepare food. Then, read the brief book excerpt for this lesson.

6. Discuss:

•In what ways could the Beavan’s choice to eat locally and seasonally help the environment, the local economy, and their health?

•What other benefits did they experience?

•What were the negative aspects of the experience?

•What do students find the most appealing and/or unappealing about the idea of eating locally and seasonally?

•Is shipping food long distances a necessity of modern life? Why or why not?

•How can the Beavans have a greater variety of foods next winter and still keep their commitment to eating locally and seasonally? (Preserve food, etc.)

7. Challenge students to create a plan for one meal that includes only food that is seasonal, local, and unpackaged. The provided Meal Plan Organizer walks students through this process and lists helpful Web sites, such as the Eat Well Guide – a free online directory of where to find fresh, locally-grown, and sustainable food. Students can complete this assignment for homework.

Teachers Notes

To view the video clip, you will need access to the "No Impact Project" video found on the No Impact Project web site.
Video clip - "Eliminating Trash" (2:06) from 20:07 to 22:13

Assessment/Evaluation

Students can be assessed on:

•Completion of the warm-up activity.

•Participation in class discussions.

•Quality of detail and reflection in the meal plans.