Middle School Curriculum

Food and Life-Cycle

Our Theme

In our community project, we will be creating a food and life-cycle curriculum that pertains to middle school students, emphasizing how easy it is to have a sustainable lifestyle and relationship with food. The topics he curriculum covers are; gardening, composting, food preservation, and food transportation implications. We also attempt to include cultural components and support diverse perspectives while familiarizing students with STEM components for a well-rounded learning experience.

Why this is important

Exploring topics included in our curriculum is beneficial to a community as a whole. Youth exposure to concepts around sustainability and environmental justice may be limited. Advocating for food sovereignty is a struggle for communities across the board. Sadly issues around the right to food disproportionally affect communities of color and or low-income communities. Activities to educate about proper gardening practices and real-world practices of the food industry support youth to create a better relationship with food and evolve a deeper appreciation for people in their community who make a difference in local food systems. Food is a basic necessity; not everyone in a community has the privilege of not worrying about having food on the table. Educating middle schoolers attempts to create a better future.; we hope that when those in the community understand food systems, they can work to better those systems to promote ideals such as accessibility and environmental justice.

H.O.P.E. Gardens
Helping Other People Eat

Helping Other People Eat Gardens (H.O.P.E.) is a nonprofit founded by Rich and Julie Brunson in 2015 to educate kids about gardening and food (H.O.P.E. Gardens, 2021). Their goal is to address food sovereignty and food justice issues by empowering kids already in their early years to grow food independently and sustainably. H.O.P.E. Gardens strives to promote food security and food sovereignty; this nonprofit understands the disproportion impact issues surrounding access to food and information on food production have on those in minority groups. H.O.P.E Gardens can help educate residents to make decisions about their diet on their own and spread their knowledge to others. A unique quality of this organization is its focus on regenerative gardening, which is “an inexpensive, quick-start, and easy to maintain gardening method” (Brunson, 2021).

The organization is working closely with schools in Wyoming, Michigan; and follows the educational core content standards by the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) faculty (H.O.P.E. Gardens, 2021). A bilateral learning experience in which the teacher learns from the kids as much and vice versa ensures a non-hierarchic environment that allows the kids to evolve even more.

Know Your Plant Anatomy !