Food Miles Activity

“Produce Passports”

 

Overview

This activity is a fan favorite! Students keep track of their produce stickers from snacks and lunches for 1 month to identify patterns in where their food comes from.

Materials

Activity Duration:

  • 5 minutes daily for 4 weeks

Essential Questions

  • What patterns can you identify in your classroom’s eating habits?

  • What foods can be sourced closer to home? Where?

Instructions

  1. Print the Produce Passport Challenge Poster.

  2. Show students the poster and ask the following questions:

    1. What regions score the highest points? Why do you think that is?

    2. What do you think is different about foods that come from far away vs. locally?

    3. Make a prediction about your class score. Explain why. (Students should write this)

  3. Explain that for the next 1 month, students will save produce tags/stickers.

    1. Lunch from home:This applies to food eaten at school for snack or lunch, but not for food eaten at home. If students have food prepared for their school lunch at home, they may save the sticker for the items they’re bringing in.

    2. School lunch: Apples and oranges will often have the stickers still on them. If they do not, ask your cafeteria staff to save a sticker or two!

  4. After 1 month, tally up your class score. You can have a discussion or writing activity about the results:

    1. Do the results match your prediction? Are you surprised?

    2. Does your classroom have a high or low score? Why do you think this is?

      1. Seasonality of food, class favorites, etc.

TAKE IT FURTHER

  • Encourage students to write a persuasive letter to the principal explaining why the school should purchase produce from local farms (depending on the season).

  • Have students research each type of food that is represented on the map. Students should calculate out the distance it takes to get each food item from the country on the sticker/tag to their plates in Massachusetts.