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For Grades 7–12 teachers: explore some impacts of food loss and food waste and examine ways consumers can help reduce food waste. 🎬 Watch the video here.
All lesson materials – including the video, Teacher Guide, and Student Worksheets – are free to order or available to download as fillable PDFs. These resources are designed to save prep time and support student learning in any classroom setting.
🗑️ What Are Food Loss and Food Waste?
Food loss refers to foods lost during production, harvest, transport, storage, processing, packaging, and distribution. Food waste refers to foods that are disposed of at the retail, food service, or household level.
What’s in the Video?
The video explains why food loss and waste are a problem, introduces the hierarchy of solutions, highlights a Canadian initiative for recovering surplus food, and shows practical ways consumers can reduce food waste.
Activity Ideas
Choose activities from the Teacher Guide based on the specific learning outcomes of the course you are teaching.
👀 Student Viewing Guide
Have students complete the guide before and after watching the video. Allow time for class discussion of their responses.
📰 Headlines
Before watching the video, students write a news headline capturing what they know about food waste. After the video, they revise headlines based on learning and share with the class.
👟 Walk the Week
Students spend the week noticing instances of food waste in their daily lives (e.g., compost bins, discounted produce) and reflect on what they observe.
💭 Note to Future Self
Students reflect on what they learned, brainstorm ways to reduce food waste, and summarize their thoughts in a note to their future self.
🍳 “Clean Out the Fridge” Recipes
Foods teachers: Show the video and teach students how to repurpose leftovers or foods nearing the end of their shelf life (e.g., stir fry, soups, smoothies, banana muffins, frittata, fried rice, French toast).
✨ Order free classroom materials or download the resources below.
Who can order:
Language:
English
(Click here for French version)Availability :
In stock
Cost :
FREE
Important Information :
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Curriculum & Teacher Support
📚️ Subject Areas by Province
The Food Waste lesson connects with multiple subjects. The table below provides a quick overview of which subject areas are included in each province. For more detailed information, see the Curriculum Connections.
|
Topic |
Alberta
|
Saskatchewan |
Manitoba |
|
Food Waste |
Biology, CALM, CTF, CTS, Environmental and Outdoor Education, Science, Social Studies
|
Environmental Science, Health Education, PAA, Science, Social Studies, Wellness |
Social Studies, Technology Education |
📌 Extra Support
Check out “Responding to Student Questions” and “Teacher Background Information” in the Teacher Guide – these sections are designed to help you feel confident and prepared for the lesson.
Explore the lesson materials
Video
Learn about food waste and Canadian initiatives to reduce and manage it. (~5 min)
Teacher Guide
Features a “Before the Lesson” checklist, background information, and activity ideas.
Student Viewing Guide
Students complete a viewing guide before and after the video then share responses.