From Land to Landfill: A Systems Perspective
| Series
Information |
Curricular
Areas:
Language Arts, Health, Mathematics, Science, and Social
Studies |
| Length:
4/15 Minute Programs |
| Grades:5-8
|
|
The
From Land to Landfill: A Systems Perspective curriculum employs
four video programs, computer-based instruction, and interactive
projects to help students develop a systems perspective of how we
obtain our food today and how we will continue to get food. The
series is flexible and can be adapted to the needs of individual
teachers and students. The curriculum is designed to be an integrated
multi-media system, but the videos are self-contained and can be
used independently of the other components.
Episode Descriptions
1
Overview of the Food System — It takes a whole system to
provide food for a population. A system is a group of parts which
work together to achieve a defined purpose. A garden is a simple
food system with only a few steps: Production, processing, consumption,
and waste disposal.
2
The Packaging System — Packaging has advantages because
it helps make food available year-round, it helps keep foods safe
to eat, and it enables people to be busy outside the home. Packaging
also has drawbacks because natural resources and energy are used
to make packages, packaged foods may be less nutritious, and disposal
of packaging can hurt the environment.
3
Hunger and the Food System — Sending food cannot by itself
solve a hunger problem. One must work on the whole food system.
Examples of hunger in other countries include: Ireland, where crop
failure led to a potato famine in the 1800s; Ethiopia, where drought,
politics, and war contributed to famine in the 1980s; and Bosnia,
where war and politics have prevented the distribution of food in
the 1990s.
4
Sustainability of the Food System — Sustainable agriculture
produces food in ways that satisfy current human needs while protecting
the environment to provide for future generations. Examples of sustainable
practices include the rotation of crops, the diversification of
crops, and the reduction of pesticide use. A sustainable food system
provides adequate amounts of nutritious food for everyone, while
protecting the economic needs of farmers and protecting the farmland
for agricultural uses. Convenience and quality need not be incompatible
with sustainable agriculture.
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