Our mission is to improve the health and education of school age children and their families through a unique curriculum – Food is Elementary © – which integrates the academic disciplines with food, nutrition, culture, gardening, ecology, and the arts.
Food is Elementary
This innovative curriculum is based on the quote “food is good to think”, coined by anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss. Food is a sensory vehicle that lends itself naturally to bringing academic concepts to life. For example, a lesson on Japanese sushi involves learning about geography and climate, agrarian history, indigenous foods and traditional recipes, folklore and literature, music, dance, and other artistic traditions. Mathematical concepts are reinforced through measuring and understanding fractions by visualizing the relationship of the parts as they relate to the whole. Older students can measure their sushi roll and calculate the circumference. 
The key concept of this curriculum, experiential learning through engaging all the senses, requires that children cook cooperatively with their peers. Educational literature has established that children first learn about the world through their senses. Through cooking, all the senses are utilized creatively thus taking advantage of a natural receptivity in children. Studies have demonstrated that 75% of all children learn best through sensory-based education. Food is Elementary deliberately focuses on creative ways to engage multiple learning styles.
Food is Elementary provides a means for children to accept healthier foods through experiential learning. It is important that children learn about healthy eating patterns at an early age so that they can protect their health through diet as they grow older. Poor eating habits established in young children lead to increased incidence of chronic diseases such as heart disease, many of the cancers, and diabetes. Inadequate nutrition can also prevent children from learning effectively.
The curriculum is a research-based program modeled after the award-winning Trumansburg, New York study “Food Education in the Elementary Classroom.” This study, the Cornell University doctoral thesis of Dr. Antonia Demas published in 1995, proved that a food-based curriculum results in dramatic dietary acceptance of diverse healthful foods among children in the elementary school lunch program. Additionally, the study shows that a hands-on, experiential food-based curriculum provides academic enrichment for all students and positively impacts family eating patterns. This has been called the “trickle up” effect with children being catalysts for healthy dietary changes at home.
students making sushi while learning about math and circumference
Goals of Food is Elementary
- Encourage a child’s natural curiosity and creativity to be the foundation of learning.
- Incorporate interdisciplinary learning so that students learn to make connections between science, math, and the social sciences.
- Introduce healthful foods through the traditions and arts of different cultures.
- Educate children about the relationship between diet and health.
- Teach children basic cooking skills through hands-on interactive experiences.
- Develop children’s cross-cultural knowledge, acceptance and understanding
- Develop children’s understanding of biology and the life cycle of plants via a school garden.
- Foster cooperative learning/peer education.
- Develop social skills and raise self-esteem in children.
- Develop children’s problem-solving, critical thinking and decision-making abilities.
Curriculum Package Includes
- 45+ lesson plans in nutrition, whole foods, sensory evaluation, culinary arts, cooking around the world for students in Pre-K-Grade 8, which have been successfully adapted for all ages
- Background information for teachers
- Supplemental materials such as instructional presentations, handouts, assessments, permission forms, surveys, and newsletters
- Potential to collaborate with school lunch program to increase acceptance of healthy school meal options
“…Food is Elementary teaches students about healthy foods from around the world and builds on what our students learn in science, math, social studies, language arts, music and art. This provides educational enrichment to our students as well as teaching them about food, nutrition, exercise, and cooking. Not only is this beneficial to our students but it is also valuable to our parents and teachers.”
Principal Matt Hornbeck, Hampstead Hill Academy, Baltimore, MD
