food system brainstorm
TIME: 20 minutes
PURPOSE: Develop a personal understanding of what a food system is.
MATERIALS:
• Whiteboard and markers
• Food System Brainstorm Guide (following page)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Ask a volunteer to list the ingredients in a recent meal they ate. Use Food System Brainstorm
Guide as a reference.
2. Ask the group: What activities are involved in getting these ingredients to our plates?
a. For example, how are the raw ingredients transformed into something we could eat?
b. Who are the people involved at each step?
3. If time allows, have participants respond in pictures or diagrams.
4. List participants’ responses on the board in order from field to plate.
5. Split the class into three groups. Have each group brainstorm one of the following themes.
If time allows, participants may add to their pictures or diagrams.
a. Resources involved in each activity
b. Effects of each activity on health, society, and the environment
c. Influences on each activity
5. Add responses to the board in order from field to plate (or invite participants to do so),
adding lines or arrows between related concepts.
6. Tell participants they have created their first depictions of the food system, which includes
the people, activities, resources, and impacts involved in feeding people.
PRINT
4. Have a representative from each group share their responses.
“Food System Brainstorm,” FoodSpan Learning, 2016, accessed October 2018 http://www.
foodspanlearning.org/_pdf/lesson-plan/unit1/lessona-food-system-lessonplan.pdf
18