5572-TAF Teacher Notes English

8/13/2019 5572-TAF Teacher Notes English

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Talking about Food food, nutrition and health Teachers Notes

Gardens for Life, Science Across the World, ASE (English) 2005 Page 1

Talking about Food - food, nutrition and health

This topic is in eight parts

Part 1 Food in our livesStudents consider the significance of food in their daily lifestyles and culture. They track their

food through a typical day. In groups they discuss how eating habits and food culture has

changed in their area in recent years. Students interview older members of their community tofind out about local food myths and folklore stories, and investigate whether any science

exists behind the stories.

Part 2 You are what you eat?These activities explore the nutritional value of food and the balanced diet. Students look at a

typical meal from their area to create a flow chart of ingredients and processes. They measure

the nutritional value and discuss what else would be required for a balanced diet in the day.Students discuss the potential health benefits or risks of the hidden ingredients in food both

natural and artificial.

Part 3 Beyond the plate. Where does our food come from, or go to?Students track the ingredients of their meal to build a map of where their food comes from.

Later they build a second map to show where their local produce travels to. They comparethese maps and discuss any patterns or issues that arise. For example, does their community

have local, national or global food supply chains? Students consider the positive and

negative issues relating to the growth in global trade, including fair trade, food miles, andclimate change.

Part 4 Food Issues and Food NewsThis section explores food security. Students explore the main issues relating to food,

nutrition and health in their country. They explore positive news stories to find out what is

being done to help more people have healthy diets. Working in groups, students explore and

present one issue creating a news report, TV or radio broadcast presentation.

Part 5 Action Plan You are what you grow?!Students work as a class to create a healthy eating calendar for their region. They explore

healthy recipes for a balanced diet based on their local seasonal produce. The nutritional

content and cultural significance of these recipes are also presented.

Part 6 Exchanging informationStudents collate their information and results to complete their Exchange Form.

Part 7 Comparing information from other countriesComparisons and discussions of responses from different countries.

Part 8 Information Section

In Part 1students explore food in their daily lifestyles and culture.In Part 2look at nutrition and the balanced diet.

In Part 3students investigate how food travels from harvest to meals, global issues of fair trade, food miles and

climate change.In Part 4students explore the main issues relating to food, nutrition and health in their country.

In Part 5students create a healthy eating calendar relating to the seasonal produce in their region.

In Parts 6 and 7Students exchange their findings with students in other countries.


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The issues

Food for sharing, feasting and celebrating Diets, recipes and food fadsThis topic

helps students to look at what they eat, what it does for them, where it comes from, and how it

affects the world around them.

The topic first explores what is meant by a balanced diet. Students look at their own diets and

discuss the role of food in their home life and culture. The topic then explores issues relating

to global and local food production, trade and food miles, nutrition and health, and food

security.

Students then consider how their local seasonal produce can be used as the basis for a healthy

balanced diet, creating a recipe calendar to share with their community and across different

countries.

The Aims of this topic

1. To help students look at the role of food in their daily lives how it affects their healthand culture through:

a. Exploring the nutritional aspects of food and the concept of a balanced diet.b. Investigating how diets have changed in their local region over time.c. Looking at how food is connected to the local culture, through festivals,

celebrations and folklore.

2. To explore how food connects people and regions together through trade, and toconsider some of the issues relating to this.

3. To help students to understand some of the reasons for lack of food security in theirregions, and to look at positive solutions for the future.

4. To promote the development of school or community gardening for healthy diets.

Age Range

In most countries this topic is suitable for students aged 11 to 16 years old.

Curriculum links

This topic will fit into the biology curriculum. It links closely with design and technology,

geography, global citizenship and sustainable development. It provides an excellent

opportunity for cross-curricular study and for addressing the global dimension and sustainabledevelopment within science.


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Part 1 Food in our lives

Aims:

To create a personal survey of what students eat in a typical day. To consider the role that food has in the home and in the community. To explore traditional myths and folklore stories in the local culture.

1 What are we eating?

The introductory paragraph sets the scene before students are asked to think back to the

previous day and list what they ate. A table has been provided for students to record their food

and eating habits through their day.

Activities: students fill in the main activities of their day such as the time they got up,their journey to school, lessons, mid day break.

Meals eaten: students should be encouraged to remember everythingthey ate,including snacks.

Where you ate: at school in the dining room with friends, alone in front of the TV, inthe kitchen with family

Who chooses your food? yourself, the school, mother etc (students might alsorecord who prepared their food).

2 Food TalkThe text box on potatoes in Peru could be used to generate a discussion about the cultural

significance of particular food crops in the local region. Do any crops have a role in festivals

or celebrations during the year? Are these crops and festivals still celebrated today, or is the

significance changing in the modern culture? Small groups are given a series of questions to

base their discussions around.

The groups are encouraged to choose a creative way of representing the main points of their

discussion to demonstrate the current role of food in their lives and culture. For example, they

might design a poster or a celebrations calendar to plot local food customs, write an article

for a travel magazine, or make up a play, song or a film. They could also represent how food

culture has changed in recent years, and try to highlight any issues that emerged through their

discussions.

Groups could present their work to the class before identifying the common themes that

emerge. This work will provide a rich resource to exchange between different countries.

3 Food Facts or Food Myths?

As a class, read the text box famous food quotes in the Students Notes before

brainstorming other famous quotes about food from the region or your country.


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Students are given an example of a myth relating to apples. As a homework activity, they are

asked to interview an older member of the family or community to explore mythology and

folklore relating to food and plants in the area. Students should be encouraged to find out

about wild and cultivated plants. It may be that you live in an area with a deep tradition of

medicinal plant remedies.

Students find out about famous quotes, myths or stories about plants and food in the region.

These stories can be written and illustrated by the students. They could also explore the

internet and other sources of information to find out whether any of these plants have been

researched and whether there is scientific fact behind their community understandings.

Local, regional or national plant science institutions or botanical gardens might be able to help

with this research. Alternatively, you may have an expert in your community (amateur or

professional) who can talk to students about local plants with medicinal or health benefits,

and their folklore.

Part 2 You are what you eat?

Aims:

To look more closely at the nutritional aspects of food and the balanced diet. To consider the hidden ingredients in food and the positive or negative impacts these

may have on health.

Read the introduction with your students which explains the basic food groups and what is

meant by a balanced diet. The Information Section includes a table to show the roles of

particular food groups, and the nutritional value of some common foods.

4 Whats in a meal?

Students choose a typical meal from their region and draw a flow diagram to trace the meal

back to its raw ingredients, including plants. This activity is easily differentiated more able

students might explore a full meal with all side dishes, and research the processes for creating

the dishes; less able students might concentrate on one particular dish.

This activity will work for both home prepared and processed food. For processed food, it

may be possible to contact the manufacturer about the ingredients and where these come from

(leading into Part 3). Similarly, a parent or local cook could be invited to the school for a

Idea for a drama activity

Divide the class into small groups of 4 or 5. Give each a slip of paper with one of the famous

food quotes written on it (or give blank pieces of paper and the students can write their own).

Give students a few minutes to dramatise their quote using themselves and props ifnecessary, to create a physical, silent picture to represent it. Students can either choose to use

movement, or to create a still picture (a tableau).

Each group shows their picture to the rest of the students, who try to guess the famous quote.


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practical cooking activity on regional dishes giving students the chance to handle, smell and

taste the raw ingredients.

5 A balancing act

Students are asked to consider the nutritional value of their meal. A table is provided for the

students to complete. Table 2 in the Information Section may help students to find the

nutritional values of some of the main foods. The nutritional information on food labels mayalso be helpful.

Looking at their charts, students identify what else they would need to eat in the day when

they have this meal, to ensure that they have eaten a balanced diet.

6 The hidden ingredients

6a Read the introductory paragraph with students and then discuss how the flavour of their

food can be enhanced.

In the first part of this activity, students explore the most common substances used to enhancethe flavour of food in home cooking. For herbs and spices, they identify what plant and what

part of the plant these come from and try to describe the flavour. Students can investigate the

following: do these herbs and spices have any particular health benefits, do these grow

locally, or are they imported?

Students design a herbs and spices poster. Include information on the potential health

benefits of these ingredients, or give warnings where appropriate.

Where possible, take students outside to find and identify wild or cultivated plants. You could

also try to grow these in pots, or in your school garden.

Help? For this activity, it is worthfinding out what expertise exists in the school and localcommunity (staff, governing body or parents) as many amateur gardeners or people

interested in plants, have extensive knowledge and could provide valuable input. Similarly,

local cooks often have detailed knowledge about herbs and spices.

6b In the second part of the activity, students consider packaged food. Ask students to look at

packaged food to find out what is added to make the food taste better or last longer. What

additives are flavourings, flavour enhancers and preservatives? Which of these are natural and

which are synthetic?

The students should work in groups to discuss how they feel about having synthetic additives

in their food.

Part 3 Beyond the plate

Where does our food come from, or go to?

Aim:

To explore how food connects people and regions together through trade, and toconsider some of the issues relating to this.


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To introduce the terms food miles and fair trade.

The Information Section supports this section, and includes a table of the main countries that

grow these plants commercially. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United

Nationswebsite (www.fao.org) may also prove very useful.

7 From field to plate

Read the introductory information with your students. Students are then asked to look back at

the meal they chose in activity 4 and to find out where their plant ingredients came from.

Students are given some research ideas:

It may be that you know exactly where some or all, of your ingredients came from, for

example, vegetables from your back garden, eggs from your neighbours farm, but you may

need to explore further. Try going back to shops, markets, or super-markets, to interview the

shop managers. You could also look at labels and the packaging to see if a country of origin is

marked. The Information Section includes a table that shows the main producing countries of

some of the worlds most important crops.

As a class students plot their food on a map to show where the class food came from, the

journeys and food miles of the food ingredients.

Students then use the maps to calculate (or estimate) the food miles for the class meals. With

students, think about the advantages and disadvantages of a mainly locally sourced diet

compared to food that has travelled a long way. Students could be encouraged to think about

environmental, economic and social issues.

Examples of some positive and negative issues that might emerge are:

Positive Negative

Essential food items that cannot be grown in

the local climate or environment can be

imported to provide a balanced diet.

Food miles use up a lot of carbon. This

contributes to climate change and pollution.

Foods from other countries can be enjoyed. Local areas become dependent on the

produce from other places and are no longer

self-sufficient.

Trade gives an income for local people and

businesses.

Local specialities, foods and customs can be

forgotten.

People learn about food customs in other

places.

In complicated food supply chains, the

consumers become disconnected from thegrowers and suppliers. Issues relating to fair

trade arise.

Food items can be imported to help feed

populations during disasters, like drought or

war.

Local areas start to produce one crop and

therefore depend on one source of income.

This also has an effect on local environments

as vast areas are used for one crop.
http://www.fao.org/http://www.fao.org/http://www.fao.org/


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8 What grows in your place?

A text box describes what is meant by a staple food. Students find out what food-plant crops

can be grown and harvested at different times of the year in their local area. Animal productsmay also be considered.

Is there a seasonal pattern linked to food availability? To find this out, students could visit

gardens and allotments in their local area to interview gardeners and farmers that grow food

crops and rear animals. In urban areas, city farms or allotments could be very useful. It would

be worth finding out if you have a keen gardener in your school or local community (amateur

or professional) who could offer help.

Students write down the time of the year, as months and seasons, when their main staple crops

are harvested.

9 Where does it all go to?

Students are asked to find out where the local produce from the area travels to. A second map

is drawn to present these findings.

Students consider whether the growers and producers in the area are linked to local

consumers. Some interesting patterns and questions could arise when the two maps are

compared. For example, it may be that the main crops grown in your region are not for food,

but for animal feed or commercial sale (e.g. cotton, sisal). In some places much of the local

produce may be exported while the main foods are imported.

Part 4 Food Issues and Food News

Aims:

To introduce the terms malnutrition and food security. To consider the difference between having access to enough food and having access to

a healthy balanced diet.

The Information Section introduces issues relating to food security and nutrition; and provides

some more examples of positive news stories. Read these with students before completing

Additional Activity idea: Food chain

Students could think about the chain of events that their food might have been through on its

travels from other regions. These could be developed into poems, songs or designed as

cartoon strips.

Excellent additional resources that may help with looking at the global supply chain are:

Papapaa, Divine Chocolate. Primary and Secondary resources about chocolate and

fair trade.www.divinechocolate.com/edu

Dubble Agents. The Day Chocolate Company Primary and Secondary resources

about chocolate and fair trade. www.dubble.co.uk

Oxfam. Fair Trade and specific information about coffee.

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/fairtrade/index.htm
http://www.divinechocolate.com/eduhttp://www.divinechocolate.com/eduhttp://www.dubble.co.uk/http://www.dubble.co.uk/http://www.dubble.co.uk/http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/fairtrade/index.htmhttp://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/fairtrade/index.htmhttp://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/fairtrade/index.htmhttp://www.dubble.co.uk/http://www.divinechocolate.com/edu


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the activities. Discuss whether students think it is possible to have enough food but not food

security?

10 Too much or not enough?

Students should prepare for activities 10 and 11 by talking to family members, looking at

newspaper headlines and stories, listening to the radio or watching the TV over a week to see

whether any issues relating to diet and health are covered.

Students think about and discuss issues relating to food, nutrition and health in their country

and region, and the reasons behind these issues. Encourage students to think about the issues

that affect them, or the problems that they know affect people in their region. It may be that

they have found out about problems that affect certain groups of people in the population such

as young or old people.

Discuss whether the main issues in your region relate to:

environmental issues such as climate, pollution, soil degradation social issues such as food trends, diets political issues such as civil unrest, war, corruption economic issues such as access to credit/finance, poverty.

Students consider positive solutions possible actions either by individuals, organisations or

governments - to help more people to have healthy diets. For example, how could more

people grow their own food? A positive example is given.

11 Food news!

Students work as a group to choose one of the issues they have identified; preferably one with

more than one side to the argument, and that will be interesting to students from another

country. They may either design the front page of a newspaper, produce a radio broadcast or

short film outlining the story and presenting a positive way forward.

Part 5 Action Plan You are what you grow?!

Aim:

To combine the themes of this topic into a creative, practical task.12 You are what you grow?

Ultimately this is a whole class challenge, but students should work in small groups. If

possible split your class into 12 groups and allocate each group a month of the year.

First, look back at the results from activity 8 and the rest of this topic to design healthy,balanced recipes for locally produced meals based on the harvest and plants of your area.

Each group designs a recipe for their month. They should also present the nutritional content

and any interesting folklore stories or myths behind their ingredients. Groups that are working

on the winter or low harvest months, may need to supplement their recipe with stored produce

from other seasons or imported produce.

Working as a class, design a healthy harvest calendar, aiming to produce a meal from the

harvest of each month for the year.


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This could make a fantastic poster, or be produced as a real calendar. If you have a school

garden, it may set a challenge for planting in the next growing year.

Part 6 Exchanging information

Students need a copy of the Exchange Form which they can download for themselves or you

can provide on paper or in an electronic format.

The Exchange Form for this topic has been designed so that students can complete each

activity on the form as they work through the topic. It is suggested that they first work on

their own forms individually or in small groups. They can then agree on amalgamating ideas

so that one Exchange Form is completed for each class or group.

Students can complete the Exchange Form as a paper copy or on-screen, and then send it to

other schools as an email attachment, by fax or post.

Establishing communication links with other schools before starting detailed work on the

topic helps with more immediate feedback. Some schools enjoy exchanging ideas andprogress reports by email while they are working on the topic.

Part 7 Comparing information with other countries

When you have received the Exchange Forms from other schools, copy these and your own

Exchange Forms for comparison and analysis. Compare and discuss the responses with the

help of some of the questions in the Students Notes.

Sources of information

The Eden Project. The Living Theatre of People and Plants explores the relationships

between people and plants, and how communities and environments are linked across the

globe. www.edenproject.com

The Royal Horticultural Society, UKs leading horticultural charity. www.rhs.org.uk

Kew Gardens The role of education at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is to increase

knowledge and understanding of the value and vital importance of plants. Their website

includes teaching and learning resources.www.rbgkew.org.uk

The Henry Doubleday Research Associationis a UK organic association, with a schools

education section and an international research department.www.hdra.org.uk

Programmes from In the Field Series: www.nri.org/InTheField

In the Field is a series of programmes made in collaboration between the BBC World

Service and the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich, supported by the

Rural Livelihoods Department (UK Government Department for International Development).

SAPS (Science and Plants for Schools) - educational resources to promote exciting teaching

of plant science and molecular biology in schools. www.saps.org.uk
http://www.scienceacross.org/media/FNH%20Exchange%20Form.dochttp://www.edenproject.com/http://www.edenproject.com/http://www.rhs.org.uk/http://www.rhs.org.uk/http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/http://www.hdra.org.uk/http://www.hdra.org.uk/http://www.nri.org/InTheFieldhttp://www.nri.org/InTheFieldhttp://www.saps.org.uk/http://www.scienceacross.org/media/FNH%20Exchange%20Form.dochttp://www.saps.org.uk/http://www.nri.org/InTheFieldhttp://www.hdra.org.uk/http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/http://www.rhs.org.uk/http://www.edenproject.com/


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The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. www.fao.org

Statistical information table in the Information Section.

World Learning, BBC World Service, Bush House, Strand, London WC2B 4PH

[email protected]

Papapaa, Divine Chocolate.Primary and Secondary resources about chocolate and fairtrade.www.divinechocolate.com/edu

Dubble Agents. The Day Chocolate CompanyPrimary and Secondary resources about

chocolate and fair trade. www.dubble.co.uk

Oxfams Cool Planet for teachers. Oxfam.org.uk

Includes information about Fair Trade and other educational resources and publications.

Out of Eden (Eden Project Books, 2005). ISBN: 1903919266.www.edenproject .com

Plants of Eden. Frost, L and Griffiths, A (2001). ISBN: 0 906720 29 X.

www.edenproject.com

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

References

Albright, K; and Warham, E. 2004. Health and Natural Resources The Forgotten Link.

www.id21.org

Burgess, A., Maina, G., Harris, P. and Harris, S. (1998): How to Grow a Balanced Diet: A

Handbook for Community Workers. VSO Books. ISBN: 0 95090 50 6 2.

CIP (The International Potato Centre) 2001, The Potato Treasure of the Andes. From

agriculture to culture. ISBN: 92 9060 205 8

DFID Forestry Research Programme,www.frp.org

DFID (2001) Future Harvest. www.dfid.gov.uk. ISBN 1 86192 347 3

FAO (1995) Dimensions of Need An Atlas of Food and Agriculture ISBN: 92 5-103737-X

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. www.fao.org

Statistical information table in the students notes information section.

Frost, L and Griffiths, A (2001). Plants of Eden. ISBN: 0 906720 29 X.

www.edenproject.com

International Wheat and Maize Improvement Centre (CIMMYT). www.cimmyt.org

Natural Resources Institute (2001). In the Field Exploring Innovative Improvements to

Livelihoods Around the World.www.nri.org/InTheField
http://www.fao.org/http://www.fao.org/http://www.fao.org/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.divinechocolate.com/eduhttp://www.divinechocolate.com/eduhttp://www.divinechocolate.com/eduhttp://www.dubble.co.uk/http://www.oxfam.org.uk/http://www.edenproject%20.com/http://www.edenproject%20.com/http://www.edenproject%20.com/http://www.edenproject%20.com/http://www.id21.org/http://www.frp.org/http://www.frp.org/http://www.fao.org/http://www.fao.org/http://www.edenproject.com/http://www.edenproject.com/http://www.cimmyt.org/http://www.nri.org/InTheFieldhttp://www.nri.org/InTheFieldhttp://www.nri.org/InTheFieldmailto:[email protected]://www.nri.org/InTheFieldhttp://www.cimmyt.org/http://www.edenproject.com/http://www.fao.org/http://www.frp.org/http://www.id21.org/http://www.edenproject%20.com/http://www.edenproject%20.com/http://www.oxfam.org.uk/http://www.dubble.co.uk/http://www.divinechocolate.com/eduhttp://www.fao.org/


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Out of Eden(Eden Project Books, 2005). ISBN: 1903919266. www.edenproject .com

Purseglove, J.W. (1981) Tropical Crops Monocotyledons.

The Plant.Discover the Fascinating world of plants - their structure, variety and life history'.

Dorling Kindersley Ltd, London 1989. ISBN: 0-86318-368-9

Consultants

Jacquie Ashton

Penrice Community College, Cornwall, UK

Jackie Chave

Royal Horticultural Society, UK

Marianne Cutler

Science Across the World, UK

Vandana Desai

Kapila Khandvala College of Education, Mumbai, India

Gill Hodgson

Eden Project, UK

Christine Newton

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK

Helen Sambili

Egerton University, Njoro, Kenya

Anne Spetch

Camelford Primary School, Cornwall

Tom Vandenbocsh

World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi, Kenya.

Elizabeth Warham

Department of International Development, UK

Egbert Weisheit

Friedrichsgymnasium, Hessen, Germany
http://www.edenproject.com/http://www.edenproject.com/http://www.edenproject.com/


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This is a resource of Gardens for Life which is funded by the UK Department for

International Development, Creative Partnerships, Syngenta Foundation, DfES, Cisco

Foundation and Future Harvest.

Gardens for Life is managed by the Eden Project in collaboration with Science

Across the World, Association for Science Education; Centre for Development

Education, Pune; Creative Partnerships, Cornwall; Global Dimension Trust; Kenya

Youth Education and Community Development Programme; Royal Botanic Gardens,

Kew and the Royal Horticultural Society.

The views expressed are not necessarily those of the donors or partners.

Documents

5572-TAF Teacher Notes English