There are also some great resources out there for helping kids learn about why food waste is problematic and how their daily choices can bring about meaningful results. Most of these come from large nonprofits or government agencies. Check them out below!
Want to plan a customized program for your class, troop or club? Check out our Speaking & Events page or contact [email protected].
Short video
Video – Life of a Strawberry – Natural Resources Defense Council
Whenever I’m presenting to kids on food waste (and sometimes when I’m addressing adults) I like to start with this 2-minute video. Produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council, it follows a strawberry’s journey from farm to kitchen trash can. The video is short, highly engaging and makes its point well. Kids often ask to see it again!
More videos + webinars and other resources for anyone who works with kids
Food Waste Prevention Week K-12 resources
FWPW offers a number of resources for educating K-12 students, including a collection of short videos on topics like gleaning and food recovery, as well as teacher-oriented webinars about integrating food waste into language arts classes and conducting food audits.
Environmental Protection Agency – Educating Youth About Wasted Food
The U.S. EPA offers a list of at-home food-waste reduction activities for kids, broken up by age. Their resource page also includes links to lesson plans by other groups and resources about implementing food waste reduction programs in schools through programs like share tables, composting and waste audits.
Food waste resources prepared by teachers
Teachers Pay Teachers has a library of materials, ranging from worksheets, to units to discussion guides made by teachers.
Lesson plans
Be a Food Waste Warrior – World Wildlife Fund
The World Wildlife Fund offers lesson plans with the tagline, Be a Food Waste Warrior. They include presentation slides, videos, activities, games and worksheets. All are grouped by grade level. I’ve used their materials and found it easy to pick and choose based on my needs and audience (I’ve even used some of them in presentations for adults!). Lesson plans start at kindergarten and go through high school.
Do Good: Save Food teaching manuals – UN FAO
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations also offers teaching materials, grouped by age, from five to 14 and up. Produced with the International Food Waste Coalition, the “Do Good: Save Food” manuals include two lesson plans and various related activities, including worksheets, discussions, games, writing exercises and projects. The manuals are available in a number of languages.
New Jersey Leaves No Bite Behind
Rutgers University has put together a nine-lesson sequence about the climate and food, particularly food waste. Each lesson includes a lesson plan, as well as materials like videos, slides, games and handouts.
Our Wasted Food – 50 minute lesson plan – Johns Hopkins Center for a Liveable Future
This five-page lesson from FoodSpan at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Liveable Future covers 50 minutes of teaching time and includes suggestions for going deeper. Food waste is addressed as lesson 13 of a 17-lesson set about the food system.
Unit: Where does my food waste go? – Illinois Environmental Protection Agency & University of Illinois
This unit focuses on auditing food waste in students’ lives. It includes a public Google Drive of materials for teachers and students, including data collection sheets for observing how other students throw away food as well as for measuring food waste at home.
Food Waste Curriculum – Purdue University
Purdue has put together five “units” on various angles of food waste. They begin with the resources needed to produce food, then cover how food waste impacts the environment, how household choices impact food waste, solutions at home and school and how food waste is transported. The materials, which include videos and lesson plans with activities and worksheets, are designed for K-5, but can be scaled up for older students.
Love Food Hate Waste – Scotland Lesson Plans
While this is technically geared toward Scottish students, these materials could be useful to educators everywhere. It includes slide decks and handouts for a number of age ranges. It also includes an activity built around the strawberry video referenced above.
Food Heros – The Global Goals Projects – World’s Largest Lesson – UNICEF
This lesson plan for ages 8 to 12 includes handouts and guided instruction to help students reflect on the waste they produce at school and at home. There’s an optional food waste audit activity.
Food Waste Audit Lesson plan – California Academy of Sciences
This lesson plan and worksheet provides guidance for students to audit their food waste at home.
Activity books and worksheets
Food Matters Action Kit – Commission for Environmental Cooperation
The Food Matters Action Kit includes activities ranging from corn husk crafts to waste auditing for kids from elementary to high school. Put together by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, which is funded by the Canadian, American and Mexican governments, this 72-page pdf document includes 10 activities for kids aged 5 to 13 and another set for youth 14 – 25 years old. The “kit” is written entirely for kids and is not a teacher’s manual (though teachers might pick and choose pages to share with their students).
Food is Too Good To Waste Activity Book – Environmental Protection Agency
This printable booklet includes coloring pages, a crossword puzzle, a maze and other activities, alongside calls to action for fighting waste.
Food Waste 101 Coloring Book – Imperfect Foods
This cute, printable coloring book from Imperfect Foods includes bite-sized bits of information about storing food, preventing waste and composting.
Food Waste Worksheets – University of Maine
These worksheets, developed by the University of Maine, EcoMaine and Food Rescue Maine cover many angles of food waste. This bundle includes a compost crossword, writing prompts, drawing prompts, matching games and more.
Guided activities
EatOrToss live programming
I’ll work with your group on customized programming and activities. Email [email protected]. You can also check out our events page.
Make the Most of Food
This program will help guide your group of students through a four-week challenge to measure and study their household waste.
