Food Systems and Nutrition Education
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Provided by: Center for Ecoliteracy|Published on: August 15, 2026
Lesson PlansScientist Reviewed
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Scientist Reviewed This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- This framework supports practitioners in exploring food systems and nutrition education, then focuses on food waste reduction as a way to strengthen the sustainability of school food systems.
- It reviews recent California laws affecting food waste, explains the three approaches of reduce, recover, and recycle, and profiles strategies such as offer versus serve, share tables, plate waste studies, the Smarter Lunchrooms Movement, and recess before lunch.
- It includes three case studies from Lompoc, San Diego, and Oakland school districts, a curated resource list, and a high school card-sorting activity in which students rank food waste reduction strategies by economic savings, waste diverted, and greenhouse gas emissions prevented.
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences, Economics
Authors: Center for Ecoliteracy
Region: California
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
Classroom Implementation:
- This is a practitioner-facing framework rather than a single student lesson; the Understanding Food Waste Strategies activity and its printable strategy cards are the classroom-ready component.
- For the card activity, have students first predict the ranking of strategies before flipping the cards to check their guesses, then discuss which results surprised them and why prevention strategies such as portion sizing tend to outperform recycling.
- Use the reduce, recover, and recycle framework to help students categorize actions at their own school and identify where the greatest impact could be made.
Options for Action:
- Have students audit their school cafeteria, brainstorm potential strategies that would improve its environmental sustainability, and refine them with input from cafeteria staff.
- Connect the activity to civic and economic reasoning by having students weigh cost, labor, and local conditions before recommending a strategy to school decision-makers.
This resource presents a collection of activities, case studies and teaching resources focused on food systems and nutrition. Climate change is a major focus in many of the included resources. This resource is well-sourced, with a comprehensive list of references, and is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
About the Partner Provider
Center for Ecoliteracy
The Center for Ecoliteracy advances the teaching and modeling of sustainable practices in K–12 schools. The organization builds partnerships and the capacity of K–12 schools to support healthy, sustainable school communities and food systems change in schools. The Center for Ecoliteracy leads systems change initiatives, publishes original books and resources, facilitates conferences and professional development, and provides strategic consulting. The organization works at multiple levels of scale, with local, regional, state, and national programs.
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →
