Category: Announcements

Authors: Jessica Cordes, Anne Boyd, Ellen Lakusiak, Puja Pachchigar, William Roberts, Jay Stanford What is food waste? What are the problems associated with it? How can we prevent and reduce food waste at home? These are the questions that parents and teachers will be exploring with students aged 5-18 this fall as a result of the Middlesex London Food Policy Council’s food waste lesson plans, developed as a bonus feature for the virtual Western Fair this year. There are two sets of lessons; one for students aged 5-11, and one for students aged 12-18. As a bonus feature of the Western Fair, the lessons will be available all week of the fair (and after the event)! Food waste is an issue that interacts with the food system at various points of the supply chain including during production, processing, retail, and in households. While an entire analysis of food waste and its implications was out of the scope of these lesson plans, these two sets of lessons focus on avoidable food waste in households where students can potentially help to significantly reduce the amount of wasted food. The materials in these lessons have been created as educational resources for teaching students about food waste with the following learning outcomes:

• Students will understand what food waste is
• Students will describe some problems related to food waste
• Students will understand solutions for reducing food waste at home

Each set of lessons includes a slide deck introducing the topic; a short video paired with reflection questions; and a collection of three activities where students explore practical solutions for reducing food waste at home.