Global Scale Problem:

Nearly 1 in 3 people lack regular access to food. Approximately, one third of food produced for human consumption (1.3 billion tons) is lost or wasted, globally.

Outcomes:

Students will learn about responsible production and consumption of food. How do we get our food? What do we consume and why? Who has access to healthy food? What impact do our consumption patterns have on our community or planet? This can cover a range of problems people are facing such as food waste, health, food production and energy consumption, and the declining ability of the natural resource base to supply food. The United Nations has named zero hunger and ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns as two of its Sustainable Development Goals. Specific areas of AWE-aligned focus include:

Week 1

Food Systems & Hunger: Mind Maps

The 8th Grade Co.Lab students will be tackling the global issue of food systems and hunger. At the end of the first day of class, they started a mind map about what they thought they knew about the issue of hunger and the food systems. They will chart and track how their thinking changes over the course of J-Term as they learn more about the topic.

Museum of the City of New York

Half of the 8th grade Co.Lab students traveled to the Museum of the City of New York this week. The museum is showing an exhibition titled “Food in New York: Bigger Than the Plate”. Originated at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, and adapted for New York City, it highlights all sides of the food industry including solutions to challenges of sustainability, food justice and equitable access. The show explores the ways in which artists and designers are developing solutions to these global and local challenges. Click the arrows below to swipe through pictures from the trip!

Guest Speaker: Jessica Wurwarg

On Friday, January 13, the students heard from a guest speaker Jessica Wurwarg. Jessica is the Director of Planning, Policy, and Economic Development, at MTA. She is also an instructor of the course Food Policy, Planning and Design in Sustainability and the Urban Environment at The City College of New York and NYU. Jessica engaged the students in conversation and answered their questions about her experience and perspective on the inner workings of food policy and its implementation in NYC.

Week 2

Global Food & Hunger Crisis Project Exhibits

Over the course of the past couple of the weeks, the students in each cohort have each been researching a region that is facing issues related the production, consumption, and waste management of food. Students have been focusing on one country within a region with their cohort including Indonesia, Ethiopia, Haiti, and Afghanistan. On Thursday, January 19, they had the opportunity to turn their classrooms into museums. Each classroom represented a different country and the students were able to visit all of the rooms. Students learned about the issues each country is facing and shared inspiration for how to build their showcase exhibitions.

Rethink Food - Zoom Visit

Rethink Food is a national nonprofit that seeks to bridge the gap between food that goes to waste and food-insecure communities. Every week, Rethink Food rescues thousands of pounds of donated excess food from a set of partners across the food ecosystem — including grocery stores, corporate cafeterias, farms, and corporations — which are converted into about 8,000 meals per week by a team of chefs and cooks. The meals are then distributed to a network of Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) across New York City to support their work and the community they serve. Since 2017, Rethink Food has prepared 8 million meals for local communities utilizing 1.3 million pounds of excess food.

On Thursday, January 19, students hosted two guest speakers from Rethink food on Zoom: Karen Seo, the Executive Director of Individual Giving and Ken Baker, the Director of Culinary Operations. Student moderators from each cohort interviewed the guest speakers with questions generated by the student cohorts.

Week 3

Guest Speaker: Andrew Geisel

On Monday, January 24, eighth grade students were visited by Andrew Geisel, the Co-Founder and COO of Citizens, an NYC-based cafe group with five locations. Citizens of Chelsea, located one block away from Avenues, is an elevated coffee and brunch experience that pays homage to the cafe and coffee culture of Australia. In order to prepare for this case study in math and entrepreneurship, students researched the economics of the restaurant industry, and built an understanding of the relationship between gross revenue, net profit, cost of goods sold, labor, and rent.

Andrew engaged in a student-moderated discussion comprised of student student-generated questions. He described how his degree in Architecture shaped his business, discussed his entrepreneurial journey, and explained the current challenges restauranteurs are facing in New York City post-COVID. Andrew also highlighted his passion for his work in the hospitality industry and ability to be resilient in the face of setbacks.

The students enjoyed some freshly made hot chocolate provided by Citizens to accompany the presentation!

Rethink Food - In Person Visit

On Monday, January 23, students hosted two guest speakers from Rethink food on campus, Karen Seo, Executive Director of Individual Giving and Ken Baker, Director of Culinary Operations. Students will first take part in a Design Challenge where they simulate being the manager of a grocery store and brainstorm creative and interesting ways to solve the problem of food waste at their stores. Ken and Karen will engage the students in a conversation about the mission and work of Rethink Food and how it relates to what the students are learning about the food system in New York City.

Museum of the City of New York

The second half of the 8th grade Co.Lab students traveled to the Museum of the City of New York this week. The museum is showing an exhibition titled “Food in New York: Bigger Than the Plate”. Originated at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, and adapted for New York City, it highlights all sides of the food industry including solutions to challenges of sustainability, food justice and equitable access. The show explores the ways in which artists and designers are developing solutions to these global and local challenges. Click the arrows below to swipe through pictures from the trip!

FLIK & Covenant House Partnership

FLIK Independent School Dining (FISD) is a division of FLIK Hospitality Group, owned by Compass Group, the world’s largest foodservice provider. FLIK Independent School Dining provides delicious, nutritious food to the Avenues New York campus community with made-from-scratch menus that support local and sustainable agricultural practices. As a part of their commitment to community, FLIK at Avenues NY donates overproduced food and prepares meals to be delivered to Covenant House, which provides housing and supportive services to youth facing homelessness. Eighth graders joined the FLIK team in the kitchen to help pack and load meals for donation. Students watched a short film about Covenant House's work and mission and reflected on their experience.

Final Exhibition Showcase

On Friday, 8th grade students completed their first J-Term Co.Lab! Each cohort celebrated with a meal of food from the region they studied: Haiti, Indonesia, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan. It was a perfect way to close out our experience. Thank you to the faculty, family, and friends who visited the showcase. Each cohort's final exhibition included student-led tours of the collaborative and individual projects developed over the course of their three weeks in J-Term.