Ignore junk food adverts. Processed food is full of sugars and pretty unhealthy. Break the cycle. Cook from scratch… These are some of the recommendations from students of Dingli Primary school which they wrote on a noticeboard in their school. They learned about food issues through personal experience and interesting activities, therefore they decided to influence the whole local community.
Survey
At the beginning of the school year, EkoSkola Committee carried out an important survey. They discovered that it is necessary to raise an awareness in their school about local and seasonal food and also about composting of the food leftovers. The survey showed that students did not think about the impact of their personal decisions. Also, how the values they share and habits they have influence their health, the natural environment they live in and the whole planet. Hence the hard-work could begin.
How to teach about food issues
Teachers discussed how to integrate topics about local and global issues into various areas of the school curriculum and also decided what activities would be the most interesting for their students. They realized that the best way to learn will be through practical activities and experiences. They agreed that students should meet with a local farmer to be able to understand the hard-work hidden behind growing food, and also they could try growing up the food, or do something about food waste.
Important visits
Students of Dingli visited not only a farmer but also a supermarket and the Farmer´s Market. Children could have seen the difference between the two, they could have bought some fresh vegetables and cooked a vegetable soup. They also had the opportunity to meet and talk with members of a local organisation about waste management and composting to tackle the issue of food waste and leftovers.
The Morning Assemblies
Those issues such as composting, food waste, and local and seasonal food were researched and discussed at special Morning Assemblies. Teachers and pupils could think and talk together about their values and attitudes and also about global issues. They tried to rethink the ways how their school could tackle these problems and respond to them.
Video, Food Code and two water tanks
The teachers and pupils decided that they should strengthen and inform the local community. They made notice boards, presentations and even a short video and showed it to their parents. The school actively used their website to inform parents about activities but mainly to share recipes, nutritional facts, ideas and information about food issues.
They created the school Food Code and explained it to two local restaurant owners. The Food Code was finally hanged inside these restaurants. A local NGO helped them to obtain and install two water tanks and a new irrigation system. It was a great public event that informed people about importance of water conservation for our healthy environment.
Kitchen Garden and Compost established
Many significant changes happened in Dingli Primary School. A new school Kitchen Garden was established. This way pupils could learned how to take care of plants and grow their own vegetables and herbs. The composting became a daily routine, so nowadays there is no more food leftovers or wasted food in the school.
Thanks to the We Eat Responsibly project, the students and teachers changed their food habits and started to make more responsible choices. Dingli Primary school have succeeded to become environmentally friendly and sustainable. They also managed to involve local community and promote engagement, optimism, reflection and action.
