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Agriculture
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Urban
Agriculture
Food
Biotechnology
Cooks,
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Eating:
Diets, Habits, Phobias, Disorders
Farm Issues
Fast
Food
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Safety
Globalization of Food
Healing
& Food
Food as Medicine
Hunger,
Famine, Population & Biodiversity
Hunger
& Population Growth
Markets,
Coops, Groceries & Supermarkets
Multiculturalism
& Food
Role
of Nutrition in Evolution
School Lunch Reform
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School
Lunch Reform
Japanese Elementary Schools: a Model
for Integrating Food Awareness into
the Curriculum &
Lunchtime
While
on a trip to Japan researching the
importance of the sweet potato there,
we were invited to visit an elementary
school to witness how Japanese children
study a different food plant each
year. As part of the science program
each grade is assigned a food plant
that exemplifies a different vegetative
reproductive process. For instance,
in fourth grade all students grow,
study and cook potatoes. Thy gain
an example of how tubers propagate.
In other grades, students grow, study
and cook carrots, propagated from
seeds; sweet potatoes propagated from
stem cuttings, etc.
Students
work in pairs to plant, tend and harvest
their potatoes. They then cook the potatoes
using a popular Japanese curry dish and
serve them to their parents. Additional
studies involve various experiments and
observations such as growing other potatoes
in different media and conditions. They
also extract starch granules, test for
other chemical properties and examine
the history of the plant.
Here
are pages from the text book used for
the potato studies.
Below
is a page from one Japanese student's
notebook in which he kept records of all
his observations and experiments.
Click here
to learn more about food awareness studies
in Japanese schools.
Japanese school lunch programs continue
to connect children to their food. Students
clear their desks, set out personally
made placemats, and take turns serving
each other cooked meals prepared in a
central kitchen. The meals are delicious
and nutritious. Afterwards, everyone helps
to clean up. Here are some websites on
the subject.
Lunchtime
in a Japanese school
Another
site showing the success of Japanese school
lunch programs.
After
20 years, whale meat returns to Japanese
school lunches.
RETURN
TO SCHOOL LUNCH REFORM PAGE
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