"Would you rather pay the farmer or the hospital? I know which one I would choose!" Out of the mouths of children come some of the wisest thoughts! Check out this video of an 11 year-old at a TED Conference. After a wonderful weekend at the Bay Area Environmental Educators Resource (BAEER) Fair, at which we had several glowing endorsements of Healthy Foods from Healthy Soils, one the best books on the market for helping kids get this kind of passion about food and then act on it, we discovered this video and thought we should share it and the book.

Don't let the title fool you. This book is NOT just about farming. It is a food manifesto! It is  incredibly well written, engaging, fun, and packed with great lessons and activities to help kids take charge of their diets (and their family's diets and their school, community....). 

Healthy Foods from Healthy Soils invites you and your students/children to discover where food comes from, how our bodies use food, and what happens to food waste. You'll participate in the ecological cycle of food production > compost formation > recycling back to the soil, while helping children understand how their food choices affect not only their own health, but farmers, the environment, and your local community.

Elizabeth and Kathy use simple concepts and fun activities to show children the big picture-how quality soil is the basis of nutritious foods, and how eating a variety of wholesome foods leads to healthy bodies. Their program enhances existing curricula through methods that include writing, art, scientific investigation, music, and puppetry. Suggested resources encourage you to adapt the program to your needs, small scale or large. For instance, the activity "What If All I Ate Were Potato Chips?" encourages children to investigate the nutritional value of foods, while a seed-sprouting experiment "teaches through the taste buds." School gardens such as an Appetizer Garden or the legendary Three Sisters, or a series of classroom worm-composting activities help students discover the role nutrients play in healthy plant production. Handy extension activities demonstrate ways that students can help effect change in their own lives and communities. Background information, suggested readily available materials, and clear instructions give you enough guidance to integrate these activities into your classroom right away.

This manual grew out of a successful pilot program funded by the USDA. Elizabeth Patten is a licensed dietitian working in the field of preventive health. She lives in Freeport, Maine, with her family and several thousand red wigglers. Kathy Lyons is an environmental educator and puppeteer in Orono, Maine. Annelida the worm puppet was first created for a recycling program but has happily joined the team as "spokesworm" for the Healthy Foods from Healthy Soils project. Helen Stevens is an illustrator and graphic artist in Gardiner, Maine.

REVIEWS:

Children's Literature - Chris Gill
Want to help kids plant a rainbow garden? Build a worm condo? Understand how much sugar one cola contains? This is the book for you. A Hands-on Resource for Educators is the subtitle of this teaching manual. Food choices affect not only personal health but also local economics and global environmental concerns. You can lead children to consider ways to create a healthier and more sustainable future. Authors Patten and Lyons have been using these concepts and methods in their teaching since 1995 when they started a pilot project with funding from the USDA's Food & Consumer Service. Four sections cover where food comes from, food choices and nutritional issues, putting garbage to work, and growing your own food. Lessons are keyed to the "Benchmarks for Science Literacy" with each lesson providing goals, key points, background information, instructions, and other helpful resources. Sprinkled throughout the sections are hands-on activities like making pizza dough and constructing worm condos. From Agriculture to Zoo Gardens, this manual can support your classroom efforts to bring a greater awareness of food and nature to your students.

Anna Blythe Lappé, Co-author, Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet
Healthy Foods from Healthy Soils is just what we need now! Never before has it been so critical that young kids learn healthy eating habits and an appreciating for eating local, in-season, balanced diets. As we struggle to help our kids get connected to the earth and the food they eat, in a world where most kids think vegetables grow on Aisle 8, this book is a great tool. Patten and Lyons make learning about food fun!"

Click here to order this book!