Teaching About Food Systems

Teacher Guide
Video 1: In Teaching About Food Systems, nine experts involved in food systems education
at various levels share their ideas and perspectives about the complexity and importance
of teaching about food and food systems.

“Food system education is very important

Key concepts include:
Teaching for equitable, just, and
sustainable food systems
Enjoying the process of learning to
develop a positive relationship with food
Connections with land and community
Indigenous Ways of Knowing (e.g. Food is
medicine)
Feeling empowered and making
informed choices
That food systems are a tangible place
for climate action
Challenges and opportunities for food
system improvements
Multiple access points for engaging in
food systems education
because knowing where your food comes from
really gives you an understanding and a sense
of how to connect with the land, how to
connect with your body, and how to connect
with your community.”
“[Food systems are] a really exciting way to talk
about different subjects like science and
technology, like math, like health and pique
student interest in different ways.”
“We all feel quite anxious about climate change
– the best thing is to do something about it.”
“It’s important to integrate Indigenous food
systems because Indigenous Peoples are the
original caretakers and still taking care of the
land today.”
“Food and community go hand in hand.”
“...There's a lot of evidence that suggests that
the more individuals understand food systems,
the more likely they are to make informed
choices.”

For more information on what we mean by ‘food systems are complex’ we suggest viewing the
Industrial Tomato (3.56m). This video provides a great overview of the environmental impacts of
large-scale tomato supply chains, including the complexities of making sustainable food
choices. For an even broader analysis, educators could to incorporate thinking about people and
the economy by asking the following questions:
Who is working on the farms? How much are farm workers being paid? Do the farm workers
have access to decent working conditions? Are they being treated fairly?
How is money from food being circulated in the economy? How much are some actors (e.g.
grocery store chains) profiting from the way food systems are set up? How can we make food
systems more equitable?
Can everyone afford fresh, sustainably produced food? Why or why not?
How and why do people have to make tradeoffs between factors such as the environment,
economy, family budget, and culture in their food choices?
Teaching About Food Systems: Teacher Guide

Video 2: Learning about food and food systems can be complicated. Every discussion opens
up the potential to go in many new directions. Thankfully, educators do not need to become
food systems experts overnight; your understanding of issues and solutions will evolve as
you learn and teach, and will continue throughout your life.
In Teaching Tips for Food Systems, we provide specific and useful connections to the
curriculum and instructional strategies to help educators build students' knowledge, skills
and ideas for action in and out of the classroom, including inspiration for future careers.

Key concepts include: “After talking about food systems from a

How to weave food lessons into many
subject areas
The role of food in social justice
Understanding Indigenous food systems
systems perspective and understanding kind of
where change can happen, I've seen [students]
go out and get involved in an organization or a
campaign or something that gives them much
more hope or much more of an ability to have
an impact.

Celebrating cultural foods and diversity
Experiential learning
Building collaboration and critical
thinking skills
“It’s an opportunity to bring in how diverse our
food cultures, our food histories are, and being
able to take that approach where it's okay to
have these differences of opinion and different
values.”

Importance of a systems and
interdisciplinary approach
You don’t have to be authorities - find
joy in teaching and learning
“I think really what is a good place to start is just
your own life and understanding your
relationship with food. And then over time, you
know, thinking about, okay, where does this
actually come from?”

Entry points for teachers to jump in “I think it's just important not to drive them
How to reach out to bring in people who towards coming to conclusions as much as to
inspire them to enjoy the process of learning.”
can support your teaching

In addition to the lessons in the video, here are a few final tips for teaching about food
systems:
Meet students where they are at and find ways to support them.
Encourage students to consider the tradeoffs between different approaches and solutions
to issues: what are the pros and cons?
Foster reflectivity, curiosity, communication, collaboration, and empathy by focusing on
more than facts and knowledge. These skills can be gained through personal journals,
group work, experiential and place-based learning, and inquiry-based approaches.
Take a solution-based approach - how are people already engaged in addressing food
system issues? How can students be involved now or in the future?