Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 minutes	Part B: Diving Into Food Waste
25 minutes	Part C: Addressing Food Waste
5 minutes	Reflection

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Step 1.

Introduce the topic of food waste by projecting the following Food Waste Images (or referring students to these images on the Student Worksheet), and asking them to work in pairs to explain whether they think these images show food waste. Students should justify their answers, recording their thoughts on the Student Worksheet:

Once complete, students could share some of their answers with the class. You can then explain to students that food waste can be described as food that is unused or uneaten and then thrown away. Take a few minutes to clarify which of the images refer to food waste:

Image number	Is it food waste? Why or why not?
1.	Yes, the food left in the container is food waste. The packaging is not food waste.
2.	No, this is food packaging. Packaging is also a waste problem.
3.	Yes, any leftover food that is uneaten and thrown in the bin is food waste.
4.	Yes, some food waste occurs at the farm or during production. There may be a range of reasons for this food going wasted, such as cosmetic standards or oversupply - some of these reasons will be explored further in this lesson.
5.	Yes, banana skins are part of a piece of food that gets thrown away.
6.	Yes, waste created when preparing a meal which is thrown in the bin is also food waste.

Step 2.

Explain to students that food waste is a big problem in Australia, with both environmental and social impacts. In this lesson, students will be exploring these impacts in more detail, looking closely at the causes and effects of wasting food on people and our environment.

Optional: If students have conducted either or both of the audits (Waste Audit or Litter Audit) from the War On Waste - Years 4 - 6 unit, ask them to recall the amount of food waste they analysed through these audits.

Part B: Diving Into Food Waste

Step 1.

Play students the following clip from War On Waste. As they watch, invite them to record anything they find interesting or important about food waste. View on iTunes or Clickview:

Episode 1, Australia - 21:45 to 28:00

Once complete, invite students to suggest anything they found interesting or important about food waste in this clip.

Explain to students that this clip talks about how much food waste Australians produce (26:35 to 26:58) and the impacts of food waste in terms of climate change (26:58 to 27:25). The food waste described in this clip deals with the waste that is left over from the food we eat and prepare and the food that has passed its use-by date. This extends to food uneaten and unused in restaurants, cafes and the school canteen. It also includes food thrown away by supermarkets once it is past its use-by date.

However, there is another form of food waste that we are far less familiar with.

Step 2.

Students will now watch another clip from War On Waste. Again, invite students to record anything important or interesting as they watch:

Episode 1, Australia - 8:27 to 12:58

Once complete, students can share anything important or interesting they noticed in this clip. In addition, invite students to respond to the following questions through class discussion:

What food waste did you see in this clip?
Suggested answer: We saw bananas being wasted at a banana processing plant/banana packaging plant.
Why does this waste occur? What is the problem?
Suggested answer: The bananas being wasted are those that are too big or too small to be sold in supermarkets. Supermarkets have size and shape requirements for the bananas they sell, including being the right length and having the right amount of ‘bend’. Explain to students that these requirements are called ‘cosmetic standards’ and supermarkets have them because they think that shoppers won’t buy bananas that are big or small or not bent. And it’s not just bananas; most fruit and vegetables sold in supermarkets are subject to cosmetic standards. This means that 20-40% of the fruit and vegetables that are grown for supermarkets is thrown out because it’s the wrong size or shape.
Year 6 - Why do you think supermarkets have cosmetic standards for fruit and vegetables?
Suggested answer: Supermarkets want consumers to return to their stores and therefore they provide food that they think consumers want, including fruit and vegetables that are a certain size and shape.
Year 6 - Some supermarkets have started supplying ‘wonky’ fruit and vegetables; fruit and vegetables that vary from the cosmetic standards. If you’re interested in reducing food waste, why might it be important to choose these products?
Suggested answer: By buying wonky fruit and vegetables you’re telling the supermarket that you’re happy to consume food that isn’t ‘perfect’, and they might adjust their standards in a way that reduces the amount of food going to waste.

Conclude your discussion by clarifying some of the ways we waste food. Food waste includes:

Leftovers thrown away by consumers and restaurants
Food thrown away by supermarkets and consumers because it is past its use-by date
Food that is thrown away before it reaches the supermarket because it doesn’t meet the cosmetic standards prescribed by supermarkets.

Step 3.

Students will now explore food waste in terms of environmental impacts and social issues.

Break the class into pairs and give each pair one of these Food Waste Facts.

Working in their pairs, students need to move around the classroom finding all the facts (there are six in total) and summarising each fact in 20 words or less using the spaces provided on the Student Worksheet.

If you are short on time you could limit the number of facts that students have to find to two or three.

Once complete, spend a few moments discussing the facts and clarifying any questions students have about vocabulary or the facts themselves.

Step 4.

You could also invite students to share their thoughts about the following through class discussion:

What do you find interesting or important about these facts?
What do these facts make you think about?
What questions do you still have about food waste?

Ensure students understand that:

There are a range of sources of food waste
Wasting food has environmental impacts
Many people in Australia go hungry even though food is being wasted.

Part C: Addressing Food Waste

Step 1.

Explain to students that they will now watch a clip from War On Waste that describes how one organisation is trying to reduce the issue of food waste. Share the following clip with students:

Episode 1, Australia - 45:45 to 50:01

Once complete, invite students to work in pairs to discuss their responses to the following:

What does this organisation do?
How does the work of this organisation relate to food waste?
How does their work relate to food insecurity?
What did you find interesting or important about this clip?

Step 2.

Explain to students that an organisation like Food Bank requires considerable effort and resources to get established. However, we can all help to address the problem of food waste.

Students will now work in groups to develop a communication piece that describes the ways households can reduce the amount of food they waste. Students will conduct research online to get some ideas for action and summarise these ideas in a poster or flyer that can be shared with families.

Some online sources to get students started include:

Food Wise - https://www.foodwise.com.au/
10 ways to reduce food waste (and save money) - https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2016/06/03/10-ways-reduce-food-waste-and-save-money
Six steps to reducing food waste at home - https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.nsw.gov.au/at-home/six-steps-reducing-food-waste-at-home

The poster or flyer should include:

Information about food waste and why it is important
Actions that families and individuals can take for addressing food waste (three to six actions, depending on age and ability)
Suggestions about where people can find further information
Year 6 - Details about the need to recognise the consumer role in cosmetic food standards.

If you are planning on completing the follow-up social action lesson, War On Waste – Going To War On Waste – Years 4 to 6, you can use learnings from this lesson to develop a plan for waste at your school.

Reflection

Step 1.

Students can work independently to reflect on what they looked at in this lesson and complete the following (also available on the Student Worksheet):

Think of three thoughts or ideas you have about this topic
Think of two questions that you still have about this topic.

Take It Further

If students are conducting the waste breakdown experiment, investigate what is happening to the waste so far, especially food waste.
If you are planning on completing the follow-up social action lesson, War On Waste – Going To War On Waste – Years 4 to 6, you can use learnings from this lesson to develop a plan for waste at your school.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

War On Waste - Finding Out About Food Waste

Go to

Summary

Lesson guides and printables

In this lesson