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Environmental Solutionary Teacher Fellowship

July 2023-24��Summer Institute Day 2:

Resilient Food Systems Unit Walkthrough

Grab a bite to eat
Find your area of the room

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Hi and Welcome!

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Overview

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Agenda:

9 - 9:30 Welcome, introductions, and orientation

9:30 - 10:15 Fundamentals of Resilient Food Systems

10:15 - 11 Problem cycle 1

11 - 11:15 ~ break ~

11:15 - 12 Problem cycle 2

12 - 12:45 ~ LUNCH BREAK ~

12:45 - 2:30 Solutions

2:30 - 2:45 ~break~

2:45 - 3:45 Work time

3:45 - 4 Closing

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Name and pronouns

School you teach at

Grade level you teach

Why you chose Resilient Food Systems

Food is…

Welcome and Introductions

Please share your…

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Today’s purpose:

You all feel ready to build and teach your unit.

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How is our current industrial food system rooted in environmental, social, and economic injustice?

How is this connected to the Climate Crisis?

How might we be solutionaries in designing and supporting resilient food systems?

Essential Questions

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Sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices will:

create an economically viable, environmentally sound, and socially just food system
reduce the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss
enhance the health of all people and ecosystems

Enduring Understandings

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Knowledge

Action

Solutionary Unit of Study Elements and Flow

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Knowledge Phase:

Foundations of Food and Climate Justice

9:30 - 10:15

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Food is…

discussion

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This is an activity put out by the Center for Ecoliteracy as part of their Abundant California lessons.

What’s a food system? (card sort)

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Directions:

In grade-level alike(ish) groups of 3, read through the cards together, discuss them, then put them in order.
When you’ve ordered them, jot down the following on each of the cards:

1. The various people and jobs involved in each step
2. Possible environmental impacts involved in each step

What’s a food system? (card sort)

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Think-Pair-Share

After doing this activity, how would you define a food system?

What’s a food system? (card sort)

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Debrief discussion

What are some ways in which inequity and injustice show up in our food system?
What are some of the environmental impacts of our food system?
How might you adapt or teach this activity?

What’s a food system? (card sort)

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Problem Identification and Exploration

Problem 1: 10:15 - 11

~ Break ~

Problem 2: 11:15 - 12

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Knowledge

Action

Solutionary Unit of Study Elements and Flow

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Unsustainable mental models
Growing and harvesting
Processing and distribution
Unjust labor practices
Food waste

Resilient Food Systems Problem Cycles

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The modern food system is generally based on unsustainable mental models about growth and consumption.

Problem 1: Unsustainable Mental Models

Concept 1: All forms of agriculture have limits and are not able to support an infinitely growing population.

Concept 2: In various parts of the world, patterns of consumption within the modern food system have become unsustainable.

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Earth - Apple Simulation

Arable Land: Land capable of being used to grow crops.

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Earth - Apple Simulation

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Earth - Apple Simulation

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Earth - Apple Simulation

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Earth - Apple Simulation

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Earth - Apple Simulation

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Pair - share

I used to think…

Now I think…

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Explore your grade level’s resources for this problem cycle.

Be ready to share at least one activity you found that you’ll put in your unit.

With remaining time…

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11 - 11:15

BREAK

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Processing and distribution practices within the modern food system have often led to inequities and negative impacts.

Problem 2: Food Processing and Distribution

Concept 1: Food is classified into categories based on how it is processed, labeled, and prepared.

Concept 2: There is a spectrum of malnutrition and food-related health issues across the world and within cities

Concept 3: The transportation system for food contributes to the overall greenhouse gas emissions of food.

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Important framing

We’re talking about FOOD!

Talking about food (and nutrition) can be triggering

We want to center healing, which means creating space to acknowledge these triggers AND teaching our young people specific tools and skills as they navigate these conversations.

Our relationships with food are complex, diverse, and often driven by our cultures and families and identities.

Food is personal. Food is cultural. Food is familial.

Complicated relationships to food

These conversations can often encourage fat shaming and make people feel bad about themselves and others.

These conversations can often make us think negatively about our bodies and the bodies of other people, which we want to resist

Our students are likely coming to us with complicated relationships to their food and bodies. They might be food insecure. They might have disordered eating. They might have body dismorphia. These are things we really want to consider.

Nutrition education has a history of being rooted in white supremacy culture - very ignorant of different cultures and histories and very rooted in “only one right way” to be healthy which we know to be untrue. So we need to acknowledge and resist these narratives.

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Don’t yuck someone’s yum.
Silent signals to share thoughts without interrupting
Share the mic
Step back and let others have their ‘aha’ moments
Food as morally neutral

It’s not good or bad, healthy or unhealthy
Focusing on flavors and/or how it makes you feel

Freedom to eat when needed - learning to listen to our bodies
Separating facts from opinion
Be open to new perspectives

What are some norms you and your students might want to establish for these conversations?

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Pre-learning reflections
Check-in to see how students are feeling mid-way through
Action plans for what to do if a student needs to pause, take a break, or step out
Reminding them of resources to help them process (counselors, talking to you after class, etc.)
Nature connection time (AWE walk)
Validate our students’ experiences, feelings
Teach active listening through paraphrasing and clarification
Go slow. Be OK with having patience and leave time for processing
Inviting other staff members (counselors, health care providers, etc.) in advance with time for them to provide feedback and give advice
Include families in the process

Healing-

centered practices with students

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Food desert vs. food apartheid

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Food Apartheid Map

Reflect in the document as you explore.

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How far does our food travel?

As we watch, jot down the any social or environmental impacts you notice about the entire production and transportation of bananas.

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Hopeful Reflection

Who is your local food hero?

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Lunch time!

12 - 12:45 pm

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What did you notice or think about your lunch that you may not have noticed prior to today?

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Solutions Development and Action

12:45 - 2:30 pm

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Knowledge

Action

Solutionary Unit of Study Elements and Flow

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Solutionary Definitions

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A Solutionary is someone who is able to identify inhumane and unsustainable systems, then develop solutions that are healthy for people, animals, and the environment.

- Zoe Weil

Institute for Human Education (1996)

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Solutionary Strategies

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Community Impact

Initiatives

All Hands On Deck: Solutions at All Levels, in All Communities, and at All Scales!

Humanity cannot wait for students to graduate and get started on doing things that contribute to a better world. We need to give students in every school, at every age, real agency and authentic opportunities to make a difference in this volatile, unpredictable, complex, and ambiguous world.

- David B. Hawley: CIO for IBO Curriculum

Design and Engineering

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Engineering Design Challenge

Pushes students’ creativity and “can-do,” solutionary mindset

Builds skills like collaboration, ideation, data collection and analysis, and presentation

Connections to careers

Hands-on learning and experimentation

Empowering all learners!

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Community Impact Initiative

Pushes students’ creativity and “can-do,” solutionary mindset

Builds skills like collaboration, ideation, data collection and analysis, and presentation

Connections to careers

Hands-on learning and experimentation

Empowering all learners!

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Engineering Design Challenge

These challenges might take weeks with our students.

We’re going to try it in 30 minutes.

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Engineering Design Challenge

4 groups

Unsustainable Mental Models (one engineering, one community impact)
Food Production and Distribution (one engineering, one community impact)

Design Challenge:

In your groups, design a physical solution to any aspect of one of these problems using the inspiration of solutions and solutionaries that you’ve learned about.

Create drawings or posters that illustrate your ideas.

Be prepared to present your idea/drawing/prototype in 30 minutes!

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Example: Cold Hubs: Solar Powered Cold Storage

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Engineering Design Challenge

Suggestions for groups:

Designate a recorder, reporter, captain, and time-keeper

Think BIG! And have fun

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Share out!

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Debrief discussion:

What are some projects you and your students might be interested in?
What questions or concerns do you have?

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Teacher Planning Time

3-3:45 pm

What are your initial ideas for how you might incorporate the solutionary resilient food systems unit of study in 2023-24?

Foundation
Problem Cycles
Solutions
Reflection

2) What resources do you want to explore further? There are unit exemplars in the Solutionary Teaching section of our Cohort 2023-24 website. �

3) What questions are coming up that you want to discuss with other fellows or facilitators?

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Closing

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ESTF Program

Deliverables

All ESTF cohort participants will submit two final deliverables:

1) Written Case Study

and

2) Capstone Slide Presentation

Find resources and more information on the Program Deliverables and Capstone Page (ESTF Website)

View previous fellow case studies on the SMCOE ESTF Website (scroll down to bottom)

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Day 3 Reminders - Wednesday, July 19

Field Trip	Start Time
Green Glove Giants Stadium Tour	9:00am
Save the Bay	9:00am
SMC Mosquito and Vector Control District	9:00am
The HEAL Project Farm	9:30am
RethinkWaste	10:15am

Please note your field trip start time. Find more detailed information on locations, what to bring, etc. in the ESTF Day 3 Field Trip Information document.
We will meet at SMCOE at 12:00pm for lunch and community-partner presentations/tabling from 1:00-4:00pm

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Thank you!

stephanie.seidmon@gmail.com

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Day 2 Exit Ticket

Your feedback helps us improve our programs. Please complete the exit ticket before leaving today - thanks! �
Day 2 Exit Ticket