Where does our food come from?
Investigate the food journey in the UK and Malawi. What are the environmental issues? What does it tell us about the children's connection to the land in the two countries? How can we reduce our food miles? What does carbon footprint mean? Compare this for the UK and Malawi. Is it the same?
Classroom Activities
There are numerous activities listed below to help you create a fun and informative lesson on the topic of food in the UK and Malawi. There are also some excellent resources about life, food and farming in Malawi on the shared work and case studies.
Please produce a report to share with other schools about your lesson and what you discovered - click case study pinboard at the bottom of the page.
Suggested Lessons:
Where does your food come from? An excellent PowerPoint presentation by the Royal Society of Biology - Click here
Food a fact of life. Classroom activities and resources for all age groups - Click here
Work out how far your food has travelled - “Food Miles Calculator Around the World". - Click here
Starfish TV: Importance of local food - "Field to fork".
Field to Fork - Part 1 - (1:21) Cartoon about local food.
Field to Fork - Part 2 - (1:16) Cartoon about local food.
Field to Fork - Part 3 - (1:50) Cartoon about local food.
Field to Fork - Part 4 - (1:57) Cartoon about local food.
Starfish TV: "Food miles challenge"
Click here to watch - (4:41) This compares the journey of various meals.
Shared work and case studies: “Food at the Trading Post" Shows how far a typical meal plan would have travelled in Malawi. - Click here
Shared Project - Compare meals in Malawi with meals in the UK. What does this indicate about each country? What impact does big Food Miles have on the environment. Write up a report and compare findings and discuss the issues. Upload onto the "Eco-Case Study Template" and send on the Case Study Pinboard (link below). Need to check every link within this.
Where does our food come from? A YouTube video produced by BBC Teach
Starfish TV - Useful Internet Videos
Food Miles - (above - 4:51) Film about food in the shopping bag.
How to make Nsima - (4:56) A traditional meal in Malawi.
Martha, Meals Malawi - Part 2 - (14:04) Her review of school meals changed the life of so many in Malawi.
Day in the life of Memory- (10:00) A film showing the life of a girl in Malawi (including favourite foods).
Optional extras - please see other resources.
Compare Malawian Food and Farming PowerPoint - PowerPoint comparing UK & Malawi growing/shopping.
Everyday Food Examples - Typical meals of children in Malawi.
Everyday Food in Malawi - When food is in Season in Malawi.
Food and Farming - Role of the land in life in Malawi.
Food at the Trading Post - How far food travelled to the plate in Malawi.