Reducing Food Insecurity and Improving Healthy Eating in Schools
Length: 6+ Hours
Discipline: Multidisciplinary, Nutrition and Dietetics, Science Education
Level: Intermediate (majors), Introductory (high school or college), Introductory (majors), Introductory (middle grade, gifted students)
Author: Coleen Morgan, Ed.D.
Type: Prototype
The increasing cost of food strains nutrition allotments in school budgets. Although Title I Schools receive federal funding for free or reduced meal programs, such as the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), stakeholders continue to voice displeasure about the quality of school meals. School administrators express concerns about meeting the needs of rising student enrollment and increased meal eligibility. This transdisciplinary project provides potential solutions to these concerns and equips students with the knowledge and skills to be self-sufficient in basic agriculture. Students will research and present nutritional data to support the need for a healthy diet, analyze data to determine how much food is needed to provide eligible students, initially, with two or more servings of fresh vegetables each week, and work together to research, plan, and construct raised garden beds for basic vegetables. Students will demonstrate their knowledge during this process through free-response journal entries which also contain response-needed feedback from teachers.
The overall time allotted for this project-based unit can be customized according to your needs. The design is best suited for a semester-long effort, or roughly 12 weeks. This time frame ensures a transdisciplinary process where each content course can work to meet specific learning standards as students complete all components of this project. Two 40-minute classes each week, in alternating disciplines, are recommended. For example, Weeks 1 and 2: Humanities – Why are we doing this? How does this work influence those around us? Weeks 3 and 4: Science – How can we use existing and new knowledge of agriculture and nutrition to address food insecurity? Weeks 5 and 6: Social Studies – Does our community offer something similar to what we will be working on? If so, should we try to model our work in the same manner? If not, who can we meet with in the local community to integrate our work with available community resources? Weeks 7 and 8: Math – What principles of math will we rely on to perform needed construction and food deliverable calculations? How will we use math to increase or maintain production? Weeks 9-12: Project or Maker Space or Homeroom – Meet with school administration to schedule an assembly or other acceptable presentation format so the project, work, and public product can be shared with the school community. Review and revisit progress points as necessary, allotting sufficient time to subjects/courses as the project nears completion. If your school does not have a dedicated block of time for PBL or Maker Space, be mindful that the finishing stage work “borrows” from each class period as equitably as possible. Design and construction of the physical raised beds is estimated at 4-6 hours to full completion, depending on the number of raised beds needed, whether or not a kit is used, and the skill level of the students and staff member(s) overseeing the construction among other factors.