Inspiring healthy and sustainable food choices and agrifood careers.
Join hundreds of food educators using our materials in their classes, clubs and events!
Our lesson plans are based on activities that focus on active participation of students. They combine teamwork, role-playing, communication skills, experimentation and opportunities for student led discussions.
Discover our food-related lesson plans under each themes!
Click on a theme and you will find:
- tried and tested, ready-to-use lesson plans
- accompanying resources
- worksheets, videos and experiments
Food & Health
Food & Health
Our diet is closely linked to our health. Unhealthy diets can increase our risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer. Unfortunately, many people have unhealthy dietary habits, such as eating too few vegetables and fruits and too many processed foods. This is leading to an increase in weight problems and obesity in Europe. The lessons in this theme aim to raise awareness in students about how food interacts with the human body, how to acquire the correct nutrients via our diets, as well as practical skills like reading labels of products in supermarkets.
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Food & Sustainability
Food & Sustainability
Engaging students in food and sustainability is crucial for both the future of our food system and planetary health. The lesson plans in this theme explore issues around regenerative agriculture, sustainable food choices, and food waste. Students will learn about the challenges facing our food system and how they can personally be involved in making it more sustainable.
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Food Science & Food System
Food Science & Food System
Children and teenagers are bombarded with “scientific information” about food. But much of this information is contradictory, inaccurate, or simply false. This theme provides lesson plans that teach students the skills they need to evaluate food science information critically and to communicate this information effectively. The lessons also explore food systems as a complex web of activities, from production to processing to consumption.
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Agrifood Jobs & Careers
Agrifood Jobs & Careers
The lesson plans in this theme help students discover potential agrifood careers by raising their awareness about the variety of skills and different professions in the field. The activities range from describing food professions to classifying them at different stages of the food chain. Some of the lesson plans also support the development of entrepreneurial skills.
View resourcesThemes
Themes are not mutually exclusive, and often overlap, therefore several of the lesson plans fall under more than one theme.
Each lesson plan has an introductory section that describes the target age group, specific educational objectives and connection with traditional school subjects.
Main learning objectives and outcomes
Systems thinking: Broadening thinking to identify different elements within food systems and understand their complexity and interrelations.
Systems mapping: Explore the variety of jobs within food systems.
Sustainable lifestyle: Understand sustainability, from farm to fork to disposal.
Healthy eating behaviour: Identify the characteristics of healthy eating patterns.
How to use the lesson plans?
Most lesson plans conform to an average class duration of 45 minutes, however the plans include suggestions for expansion and additional optional activities that enable you maximum flexibility in planning your class time. Suggested timing is indicated in the introductory section.
Each lesson plan is a coherent unit and can be used separately. However, you can also link lesson plans to each other, creating a series of food-related classes for your students (e.g. ideal for thematic weeks or longer projects). Suggested linkages also appear in the introductory section.
Each lesson plan has a set of supporting materials for classroom use - these can be a worksheet for students, presentation to show in class, teacher notes or all of them. It is up to you to decide how to use them with your students - print or digital (using google docs for example). Lesson plans also include additional background materials for preparation - links to podcasts, videos or relevant articles to enrich your understanding.
If you are interested in how our Lesson Plans are connected with Sustainable Development Goals listed by the United Nations and Key Competences for Lifelong Learning listed by the European Commission, download our infographic.
Who we are:
FoodEducators is an EIT Food programme that provides teachers with fun, creative and interesting activities to engage young people, mainly schoolchildren. Our easily accessible, science-based food education materials enhance students' learning so they can become better informed, conscious consumers of the future.
We harvest new insights into how to deepen learning experiences around food, promote health and sustainability, and motivate future generations to pursue careers in the agrifood sector. Our programme focuses on inspiring leadership, conscious consumerism, food science literacy, entrepreneurial mindsets, and vocational possibilities among young people aged 6 to 18 years old.
Our vision:
A world where all young people have access to food education and are aware of exciting and innovative agrifood careers.
Our mission:
To support educators to teach, engage and inspire young people about the food they eat and consider a career in agrifood.
What teachers say about our materials
Central news
Central news
Exploring Sustainable Food Choices at the “I Love Science” Festival
01 Nov 2024FoodEducators had the pleasure of participating in the "I Love Science" Festival in Brussels
Central news
Harvesting Hope: Visioning Future Breakfasts in FAO World Food Forum, Rome
26 Oct 2024FoodEducators and FoodUnfolded led a visioning workshop about future food in Rome
Central news
Teachers’ Survey on Food Education 2024: Your feedback matters!
09 Oct 2024Add your voice, experience, and comments on the topic of food education!
Central news
FoodEducators at FAO World Food Forum - Join us online!
09 Oct 2024FoodUnfolded & FoodEducators joint workshop "Harvesting Hope: Collaborative Visions for Sustainable Agrifood Systems" World Food Forum organized by FAO in Rome - will be streamed live!
