The World of Food
Do you always have bananas at home, but have never seen a banana tree around? This is due to the fact that a lot of the food we eat isn’t grown in our region! Indeed, what we eat has much more impact on the world than just directly on us!
Are you curious to see the bigger picture? Or, as you say in German, to “look over the edge of the plate”? Then let’s start!
Warm up
What do you know about the global food industry?
Answer these questions with your buddy!
Learn
What do you both think are the impacts of global food production on:
- human beings?
- biodiversity and nature?
- climate?
Do a brainstorming on each of the three points together : take a piece of paper and write down all the ideas that come to your mind!
When you are done, compare your answers to these information:
Dive in 1
.png "Illustration: watering flowers")
Guess a) the origin and b) the biggest cultivation nowadays of
- almond (answers: origin / biggest cultivation nowadays)
- cocoa (answers: origin / biggest cultivation nowadays)
- apple (answers: origin / biggest cultivation nowadays)
Dive in 2
Where do those products in your local supermarket come from?
Guess now and check next time you go grocery shopping!
Dive in 3
In order to counteract the impact of global food trade, some people try to buy as much “regional products” as possible, that means products which grow in their area.
Therefore, community-supported agriculture (CSA) is becoming more and more popular: the farmers receive a fixed amount of money* every month from the members of the group and they share with them their harvest. This allows the farmer to share the risk of the harvest, while the people in the city get tasty regional food and also the possibility to be a farmer for a day, going to help out in the countryside.
.png "Illustration: a farmer")
Imagine now that you are a member of a CSA: what products would you get at this time of the year?
Try to guess and then verify, asking people who might know or have a seasonal calendar specific for your area!
Create 1
Time to get active!
- Pick one fruit or vegetable together that you like, which is not regional.
- Now draw the routes on a world map that your product travels from its origin, to the cultivation spot and in your local grocery store.
Are you done?
Now it’s time to write some keywords related to the different impact factors (humans, biosphere & nature and climate) connected with their production and trade.
When you are done, have it uploaded into the work.it area!
Create 2
Let’s focus on food waste!
What do you think that supermarkets do, when their products are reaching their expiry date?
Most of them throw it away. As a form of protest, some people have started “skipping”: going to the supermarket trash and retrieving food which is still good! They eat fresh food and save money!
But it is usually not a legal way of preventing food waste.
The good news: some supermarkets are starting to allow their food waste a second life, donating officially to people or organisations.
How do grocery shops and supermarkets in your area deal with the problem of food waste?
Go together to interview them!
If they are still wasting food, develop ideas about what you could do to change the situation (e.g. letter for the director, strategy meeting with a local association which supports poor people, a theatre performance to raise public awareness on the topic...) and do it!
Remember: behind all changes there was someone fighting for them!
.png "Illustration: send a message!")
Reflect
Concluding, what has impressed you most on global food production?
What was new for you, what did you already know?
What do you think, how will this knowledge affect your future consumption?
Share your thoughts with your buddy and make a postcard on the topic to raise the awareness of the people around you and the whole KIDS4ALLL community!
Download the free KIDS4ALLL app and your wish comes true!
