New Curriculum: Nourish: Food + Community

Posted by on December 05, 2010

New Teaching Resources Released by WorldLink and Center for Ecoliteracy

A new middle-school curriculum released by WorldLink and the Center for Ecoliteracy invites students and teachers to ask, “What’s the story of my food?” “Nourish: Food + Community” is part of a national initiative that combines PBS programming, curriculum resources, website content, teacher seminars, and youth summits to increase food literacy.

Kirk Bergstrom, executive director of the nonprofit organization WorldLink, describes the mission: “We want students to explore the question: How do the food choices we make—individually and as a society—affect the health of people and the environment?”

The “Nourish” curriculum was developed by the Center for Ecoliteracy. A nonprofit dedicated to education for sustainable living, the Center also wrote the book “Big Ideas: Linking Food, Culture, Health, and the Environment” and created the curriculum for the Academy Award nominee, “Food, Inc.”

“Middle school is an ideal time to engage students in the story of food,” says Zenobia Barlow, executive director and cofounder of the Center for Ecoliteracy. “Students are increasingly making their own decisions about the food they eat and becoming aware of the influence of marketing on their choices.”

The “Nourish” curriculum is designed for use in middle-school social science, science, health, and English classes. Themes include the story of food; food and ecosystems; seasonal, local food; analyzing food ads; food traditions; and the school lunch survey.

The curriculum and a companion DVD challenge students to create action projects relevant to the health of their school and community. The materials align with national curriculum standards and benchmarks of the National Council for the Social Studies, National Research Council, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Committee on National Health Education Standards.

Both the Nourish curriculum and DVD are based on a new PBS special airing nationwide this fall. The award-winning program features bestselling author Michael Pollan, sustainable-food advocate Anna Lappé, eco-chef Bryant Terry, and pediatrician Dr. Nadine Burke.

Download the Nourish curriculum guide on these two websites:

Nourish
http://www.nourishlife.org

Center for Ecoliteracy
http://www.ecoliteracy.org