Why should we conserve food?
Food is something that we encounter
multiple times every day. We must eat food to live and survive. We eat
breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily to keep us strong and healthy people. While
food seems to surround us, whether in our kitchen or at the grocery store, it
is also a valuable resource that is limited and precious. The basis of almost
every food is a natural substance grown from the land or from an animal that is
dependent on this land, whether that be corn, wheat, or any kind of meat. Since
we only have one Earth, we have a limited amount of land that food can be grown
from. Because of this we must learn to conserve and monitor the amount of food
we buy and eat.
Ways to Conserve Food:
Although conserving food may seem like
an unattainable goal, it’s the small things that can truly make a difference!
· When making a sandwich or toast, don’t cut off the crusts!
· Eat the end pieces of a loaf of bread! Don’t throw them
away.
· Only put as much on your plate as you can eat.
· Eat leftovers!
· Make a list for the grocery store and stick to the list.
· Buy local!
· When your fruit and vegetables start to get soft, juice the
fruit or make it into smoothies. You can make a soup with the vegetables.
· When you have an overabundance of bread or like foods,
freeze them! They will still be great months later!
· Buy fruits and veggies separately instead of in packs so
that you’re sure to eat them all.
· To make sure your food stays fresh longest, keep your fridge
between 1 and 5 degrees Celsius, or between 33.8 and 41 degrees Fahrenheit.
· When you go to the store and buy things for the pantry, make
sure you move the older things to the front so that they don’t go bad!
· If you have space to garden, start one and use your own
fruits and veggies! You can make great soil by making a compost bin and using
your food scraps.
Activity:
Make a Compost Bin!
A great way to reduce trash and make
use of food scraps is to make your very own compost bin! Not only will it be
eco-friendly, provide great soil for healthy plants in your garden, but it also
is extremely cheap to start. All you need is a plastic trash bin with a lid, a
bungee cord, and a drill.
· First, have an adult drill holes evenly in a line going up
and down the trash can on all and over the top and bottom to encourage airflow.
· Next, add dried leaves, twigs, dead grass, newspaper (not
the glossy pages), straw, or sawdust to the container. Use several different
elements.
· Add equal parts of fruit and veggie scraps, coffee grinds,
grass, and other green living plant materials. Make sure there isn’t too much,
or you’ll get too many bad bugs! If the mixture turns slimy and too smelly then
there’s too much green matter!
· Add water so the contents are moist, but not too wet.
· Close the lid and secure it with the bungee cord. Have the
kids put the bin on its side and roll it around once a week to mix up the
materials.
A few tips:
1.
Make sure you do not put meat scraps,
dairy products, processed food, anything with ink (besides regular newspaper)
or poop into your compost bin! It is unsafe for your garden fruits and veggies and
can make people sick!
2.
Let the kids decorate the compost bin
for some extra fun!
3.
Safe things to put in your compost:
fruit, veggies, eggshells, coffee grounds, paper, tea bags, shredded paperboard
(cereal boxes), drier lint, nuts and shells, compostable plates, cups, and
cutlery, and other organic materials.
4.
Make sure you have 50/50 green matter
(fruits, veggies, etc.) and brown matter (dead leaves, sticks, etc.)
5.
Water once a week!
6.
To remind everyone what is okay and not
okay to put in the compost bin, make a colorful sign and hang it above the
compost bin!
7.
Have fun!
Another Activity:
Farmer’s Market Fun!
Bring your family to the local farmer’s
market. Ask the people running the stands and learn about the farms that the
produce came from. Ask things like
how big their farms/land are, how many crops they yield a year, how they sell
their produce, and how they run their farm. Buy some of their fruits and
veggies, along with the same fruits and veggies from the local grocery store.
Compare the farmer’s produce with the grocery store’s produce based on price,
taste, size, etc. Then, as a family, discuss the pros and cons of buying local
produce vs. buying grocery store produce. Does your opinion change about where
you buy your produce from before comparing and after?
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