Understanding the Food System

Objective:

The two activities in parts I and II encourage students to think about where their food comes from.  By examining the many steps food goes through from the farm to the table students will better understand the implications of their own food choices and the benefits of purchasing local foods.  Either part can be used on its own if time is limited; they are paired here because together they make a great workshop on the food system. 

Materials Needed:

Part I: Script (provided); one ripe strawberry or a tennis ball rolled in ketchup, paint or anything gooey; bag of 20 nickels; one dollar bill

Part II: Assorted produce items from around the world (see suggestions below)

Part III (optional): local and non-local strawberries, tomatoes, or other popular produce item for a taste test

Procedure:

Part I: The Tale of Two Strawberries

Ask participants to sit in a circle.  Take a tennis ball and roll it in some ketchup or water-based paint to represent a ripe fruit, or just use a ripe strawberry.

Pass the ball to the first student and say: “you are a farmer in CA who just picked this strawberry.”  Following the script below, have the participants pass the “strawberry” around the circle with each student representing a different person who handled, inspected, trucked etc. the strawberry along its way from CA to the local grocery store.   The last person in the circle should represent the person purchasing the strawberries at the local store. The script below provides rolls for 14 people.  Additional rolls can be made up or removed depending on the number of students in the workshop.

1.  “You are a farmer who picks this strawberry in CA”

2. “You washed the strawberry at the farm in CA”

3. “You inspected the strawberry for packaging”

4. “You packaged the strawberries for shipping”

5. “You loaded the packaged strawberries onto the farm’s truck to take it to the warehouse”

6. “You work at the warehouse and unloaded the cases of strawberries”

7. “You put the cases of strawberries on the Stop & Shop truck at the warehouse”

8. “You trucked the strawberries all the way to the central Stop & Shop plant for the eastern U.S.”

9.  “You re-inspected the strawberries at the central warehouse and sent them to the store in Northampton (use your local community)”

10. “You trucked the strawberries to the local store”

11. “You are the manager of the local store and put the strawberries out on display”

12. “You are the worker at the store who prices the strawberries with price stickers”

13. “You ring the strawberries up at the cash register for the customer”

14. “You bought the strawberries and bring them home to eat!”

Once the “strawberry” has made it around the circle, hand the last person a bag of 20 nickels and ask her to pass the dollar to the next to last person to pay for her strawberries.  Ask that student to take out one nickel for her work and pass the bag to the next girl.  The money should be passed back along the circle (in the reverse direction from the original strawberry) with each student taking out a nickel for role in transporting or handling the strawberry until the remaining few nickels end up at the beginning of the circle for the farmer in CA.  Ask the “farmer” to count how much she got for her strawberries.  Explain that on average, only about 10 cents of every dollar we spend on produce goes back to the farmer who grew that food.

Give the ball or strawberry back to the “farmer.”  This time say, “you are a farmer right here in W. Mass who just picked the strawberry.”  Give the last person (the purchaser) a dollar bill.  Ask her to walk up to the first girl and say “this time, you buy the strawberry at the farmers market.” Have the “farmer” pass her the ball directly and have her pay the farmer the dollar in return.

Discussion:

Ask participants what surprised them and what they learned from the activity that they hadn’t thought about before.  Have students brainstorm a list of advantages of purchasing food locally.  Encourage them to think about quality and freshness of food, environmental benefits (less trucking, often less chemicals used in small-scale agriculture), and economic benefits for the local community.

Part II: Where does your food come from?

Prior to the workshop, go to the supermarket and purchase a variety of produce items that come from different locations around the world.  Some widely available possibilities are:

-          Apples from New Zealand

-          Bananas from Costa Rica

-          Mangoes from Mexico

-          Tomatoes or citrus fruit from Florida

-          Fruit from California, Michigan, New Jersey etc.

Bring a paper bag with the produce to the workshop.  Begin by asking participants if they think they know where their food comes from and find out what they think.  Next, pull out items from the bag one at a time and ask kids to guess where the food was grown.  After a few they will probably realize how little they are aware of where the things they eat every day came from.  Go through the entire bag to show the diversity of where supermarkets get food and the great distances most of our food travels.

Discussion:

Ask participants to list foods that they know can grow in their local area.  Probably many of the things that the supermarket carries could have been grown locally but are not.  Why would this be?  

There are many places in most communities where local foods are sold.  Ask participants to list places that they know of to buy local food such as farmers markets and farm stands, local markets and restaurants.  Remind students that it isn’t just produce that is grown locally, but also eggs, dairy products and meat.  Encourage them to look for locally grown items next time they are at the supermarket and see what they can find. 

Part III: Local vs. Non-local Taste-test

If it is a month when berries, tomatoes or other popular produce items are in season, finish the workshop with a tasting of locally grown produce or test local varieties against non-local ones.  This is a fun way for kids to see some of the great food that is growing in their own communities!

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