For our action project my group and I decided to tackle the issue of food waste with the help of a group of kids. We made them a board game to play that took them on the same path food takes as it is grown, picked, shipped to the grocery store, taken home, and how it gets wasted along the way. It was a topic that none of them knew about, but that all changed as they eagerly learned about an issue that they all contributed to but still had the potential to change.
The world often seems larger than life, especially through a child’s eyes, but the world is actually getting a lot smaller as a result of the lives that live off of it. By showing the kids that the earth’s resources are finite, not infinite, made them more aware of the limits our planet has and that we shouldn’t be taking it for granted. Explaining how much work went into getting them their groceries from the growing to the picking to shipping the food all around the world and finally having it end up in stores and restaurants made them more grateful for everything it took to get their food to them. Teaching them about how much of the world’s resources, especially food, gets wasted showed them how much impact people had on the planet, and not in a good way. Even so, they didn’t lose hope.
This topic can be overwhelming at points and it can seem like there are too many problems and there aren’t any solutions to solve them, but children aren’t brought down with that despair, they only know optimism. Even though some of the information I told them was shocking, like the fact that the United States loses 165 billion dollars every year as a result of food waste, but even when they heard big numbers like that they weren’t swayed. Though they did seem genuinely concerned to learn about the downsides of a topic they had previously known nothing about, they did not let this new knowledge dampen their spirits. If anything, they seemed more inspired to make a change. Even though the task of lowering food waste can seem daunting, the kids didn’t seem to be worried. They were eager for me to give them options to help them lower their amount of food waste and even offered some ideas of their own. Simple things like planning out meals so you don’t buy more food than you need can make a big difference because you won’t be letting edible food rot and you won’t lose any money on wasted food. One of the kids even told me that she was going to give her dog the food she couldn’t finish, so she’s both thinking sustainably and also making her dog very, very happy. After playing the game with the kids, I walked away knowing that I was leaving the future of the planet in highly capable hands.
Which would you rather have?
This post made me happy for multiple reasons. I love how you targeted kids, because kids are our future. I think that educating kids on important issues is one of the most impactful things that we can do as a community. It gets kids thinking about what they can do to help our environment and their minds are so young, fresh, and optimistic. I am curious to what do you think would happen if this group of kids were a group of adults? Do you think they would listen as closely as the children did? Why or why not? I do not think that they would listen as closely because most adults are very closed-minded, and already have opinions of society and the environment, and this could be because of previous knowledge, or just because they simply do not care about this issue. I am super intrigued with this project and loved this idea.
Hi Sydney,
Your action project is very interesting.
In this course, we have learned specific topics on food such as food waste, industrialized food, soil, seeds, water and so on. We got a chance to know more about them through lectures, readings, and videos which sometimes gave us shocking facts. But your blog post about your action project makes me realize that education about food is also one of the most important actions in order to maintain food sustainability. Eating is what everyone does every day, which means we have huge impacts on food and the nature/ environment surrounding food. Some groups had panels on food and our group and I made a podcast about food trade whose listeners would be college students and adults but I think your project has longer-run impacts on future. The number of adults who pay attentions to food waste is not very big and some of them have ignored this problem even though they have recognized it. Such adults may not tell this problem to future generations and media may hesitate to take it up for discussion. In these points, what your group did is very meaningful for our community.
When I was in the elementary school, I did a small research about food miles with my classmates and it surprised me because I noticed that we emit the huge amount of carbon dioxide to transport food which we eat every day. I think the surprise brought me to this course at UW. Some of the kids you did the project with will take this kind of course in the future I guess.
(Response3)
Sydney,
Your group’s action project sounded like it had really great intentions, and at the end of the game the kids were excited to help re-create their role in the food system. I think that engaging kids with the food system early in their life is the right approach to take to begin shifting our consumption habits; begin laying the groundwork for the next generation to be even more inclined to act in a sustainable way because kids are our future. I also think that if kids know where their food comes from they might be more likely to encourage their parents to buy better food/make healthier choices. Unfortunately, in today’s age children obesity is a growing concern (Carolan talks about this in his book that we read), and like I said earlier I think that this could be alleviated if kids understand the food system better.
I did have a question about the project itself though. Did you and your group go to a school classroom to perform this activity, or was it done at a local farm/school garden? And, do you think that the game you created is an activity that can be used in future class room settings?
Hi Sydney,
I remember your group presentation from section and I think that you had a fantastic project. Like I mentioned in class, I think it is so effective to communicate about food waste to young kids. I remember being in elementary and middle school and learning about food waste, especially on Orcas Island at our school camp. We had to weigh all the food waste from our plates at the end of the night, and they showed how little food waste came from the kitchen in comparison. They would also show us simple ways of reducing food waste, like only taking what you can eat, and using as much of a fruit or vegetable or piece of meat as possible. This made such an impression on me because at such a young age, I think it seems much more attainable to actually reduce the amount that you waste. Those habits are still part of my daily life when I am eating and cooking, and I think it just generally made me more conscious. Your idea of a board game is so creative and educational, and it sounded really effective. I liked how you talked about turning something that seems very abstract, like the all resources on earth, into something relatable and easy to understand. I totally relate because it felt possible to make an impact, just in the way that you described in the kid’s reactions. Did you feel more optimistic about tackling the challenge of wasting less food when you finished playing with the kids?
Sydney,
This style of action project seems especially impactful for a number of reasons, not only because it uses outreach-style education, but also because of its aim at children. In this course, we’ve talked a lot about the importance of education, because without an educated population, it’s difficult to start important and meaningful conversations about our food system. Maybe the next step could be creating a similar type of game that children can use to bring back to their families. Children are sponges when it comes to absorbing new knowledge and reshaping their worldviews, but it’s harder to have conversations with adults who have worldviews that have already been shaped and hardened by the systems they exist within. Additionally, food waste was a great topic to choose for this type of education because the connection between individual responsibility with food waste is strong, as opposed to other systemic problems like food deserts caused by resource hoarding.
Sydney,
Of all the action projects I’ve heard so far, I think I want to give my own personal award to you. This is the type of action that will almost definitely make a difference in the future of food waste and the general movement towards food sustainability. Getting children educated at a young age is one of the most empowering and important things that we as students concerned about these issues can do! Though it may seem like the kids are uninterested or that it’s over their head, I’m sure that you, as well as I, remember certain educational experiences from when you were young. Though they may not be fully able to process all the information or understand the scope of the issues you presented to them, you’ve got the correct cogs in their brain processing. Most people would be surprised at how much information can be kept, stored, and processed later in one’s mind. It is activities like these that I believe should be implemented into schools all across the nation, in hopes that the next generation’s understanding of sustainability isn’t so muddied by the propaganda of interests and politics. Today, we often struggle to mobilize on a large scale on issues such as food waste because we are fighting against the forces of apathy and ignorance. I thoroughly applaud you, you’ve almost certainly widened the scope of some children’s awareness on such an issue.
I really enjoyed reading about your action project. The fact that you incorporated kids into your action project is really special to me because having our next generation care about big issues like this and getting their minds turning about these issues at a young age is very important and, I believe, very instrumental in changing the amount of waste our society produces. Sometimes I feel like adults and older people are hopeless because they are too set in their ways, which is also why I think targeting children was a very smart and proactive plan for your action project. I remember when I was in elementary school our teachers put oil in water and gave us things like q-tips, soap, etc. to try to remove the oil from the water. Obviously, none of us were successful but that was the point. They were trying to show us how difficult it was to clean up the water. Obviously, that has always stuck with me (15 years later) and I hope that your project sticks with the kids that you worked with. Although like myself, these kids probably can’t quite process all of the information and how large the problem actually is to solve, but to them it doesn’t matter. Like you said, their optimism is inspiring and I think it’s important to channel a child’s optimism when facing problems like these. Hearing about your action project gave me hope for a better future.
Hi Sydney,
I loved reading about your action project! I am also in an action project group that focuses on food waste, and I appreciate your approach to this issue through environmental education. It was particularly nice to see that one of the kids you mentioned thought about allocating her food waste to her dog – since that was something my group did, except on a larger scale with food industries and homeless shelters.I can definitely relate to your experience with children being much more uplifting than adults; especially when it comes to such a largely negative topic like climate change.
This brings me to question how long their enthusiasm would last, and how we could sustain the current response they have towards these issues. Also, how could we possibly apply it to adults? Perhaps there is some sort of purity aspect to children – as they are not as exposed to the negative of the world and life in general, and therefore are not as easily jaded as adults are. Were you able to have the children participate in some environmental activities that they did as a group? I think that if adults see their own children, or any kid in general, being passionate about environmental issues; perhaps that would inspire them to rethink their priorities and values to set a healthier environment for the next generation.
Our World Food Politics class mentions a lot of what is going on around the world, and provides some solutions that already exist. However, I think something that the class failed to really focus on is environmental education; so I’m glad that you took the initiative and made the younger generation become aware of these issues. I hope to see more children who are environmentally passionate become publicized, in the hopes of inspiring adults across the world to become enlightened and do the same. As we grow up, there are constant distractions within our daily lives that make us lose sight of what’s truly significant. This would be one way of helping people come to that realization.
Hi Sydney!
Your group’s action project sounds super interesting! I would have never though of taking action through the kids of our future, so hats off to you! I think it is so interesting how your group came up with this approach and I’m glad that the kids received the information well. However, I am curious as to how long this knowledge will remain relevant to them. Will they continue to take constant action to reduce food waste? Nonetheless, educating children is a sure way to develop helpful and meaningful practices of reducing food waste. I think it would also be beneficial if there was some way that this could be turned into a larger scale education process, where more than one group of children can learn how they can reduce food waste as this can create a greater scale of collective action for our future. This may even encourage parents to become involved or inspired to help their children become more effective at reducing food waste. All in all, your project was inspiring and thoughtful. Great job!
Hello Sydney
Through all the other projects i would have to say yours is my favorite, this was very creative and i liked how you and your group chose to pursue the innocence of age, to show almost human instincts before we are able to develop our own ideas from society. As well as trying to stress to young elementary kids the importance of these factors of life, because impacting a group of kids that young you can have a greater impact than trying to convince a bunch of adults. I felt it could have helped if you got a group of kids that were slightly older and created a synthesis between the two and you could have connected it to a bigger issue, but other than that all around great project.
Hi Sydney,
This is one of the most interesting group projects I have come across, and I think the fact that you worked with children was awesome! I feel like targeting a younger audience especially children was a good way to promote change because their generation will have to face this problem in a couple of years, therefore if they’re aware now then they can start making changes earlier. I also liked how you made a board game for the children to interact with rather than just lecturing them. I remember when I was younger I was never too interested when my teachers would just talk to me for hours, but when they had interactive activities then I was fully engaged.
Though this is a tough discussion to have with kids it is extremely important to spread the word about food waste. I think food waste has become so normal here in the US that no one really thinks it’s an issue when it really is. Especially with how easy it is to purchase some goods in bulk for example Costco. Because we are given the opportunity to purchase goods in bulk it also increases the chances of wasting food because a majority of the time I purchase something from there I usually don’t eat all of the food before it expires. But if those kids can make an effort to change their habits then I can too.