Do you ever wonder where your food comes from? Perhaps you or your community has a local garden or farm that you use to grow the food that you cook, but where does the food that fills grocery stores come from? The short answer is that producers all around the country (and even the world) grow specific foods according to their regional climate (think about the amount of sunshine, rain, and average temperatures that certain plants need, for example).

Today, you will learn how to cultivate your own garden (including the foods that grow best in your region) and create a plan for a garden at your school.

Step 1: Our country has many different climates which allow people to strategically grow certain plants successfully. Look at this and identify which region you live in. Does Tennessee have more than one climate?

Step 2: Now that you know about the climate you live in, it’s time to find out what grows there.  Investigate which crops grow well in your region here (1 & 2) and if any of these plants grow well in your zone here. 

Step 3: Have you ever had a garden? Gardens can grow many things and serve many purposes. Flower gardens are pretty and help bees make honey. Vegetable gardens provide food for your home.  Learn more about how to grow your own potato here or tomato here, and give it a try at your house.  

Step 4: Now that you know what grows well in our area and you know what it takes to make vegetables grow. Make a plan to create a garden at your school.  You will have many decisions to make as you map your plan and you can find guidance here. [If your school has a garden, how can you improve it?] 

Step 5: Be sure to share your plants and garden plans on social media using #MakerMonday and #LearningInPlaceTN!

Additional Resources:

Forest Garden With No Maintenance

Second Agricultural Revolution

Happy National Gardening Day! Many of the gardening techniques that we use today evolved from practices that were developed hundreds of years ago. While developing solid gardening techniques is important, we also need to know how much food to grow and how to keep our food from spoiling. At every stage of the food production process, food can be wasted. In the U.S. alone, 103 million tons of food was wasted in 2017 (that’s 1 pound of waste per person per day!). 

Today, you will explore the causes of food waste, think of ways to reduce it, and consider the role your school garden could play.

Step 1: What happens to the food that doesn’t get eaten at restaurants or bought from the store?  Food waste is a worldwide problem.  Find out more about food waste and why it’s an important problem here.

Step 2: There are many causes of food waste world-wide.  From regulations that require food to be discarded to over-ordering in restaurants, food waste and food loss continue to compound.  But have you ever thought about the environmental effects? Learn more about this bear of a problem here.   

Step 3: Now that you have an idea of ways that food waste occurs, how it affects the environment, and ways it can be prevented, it’s time to consider your community.  What are ways your community contributes to food waste? What are some specific ways it could improve? Draw out your ideas.

Step 4: Think about your school garden from #MakerMondayTN. With the produce you’re creating, how might the garden help reduce food loss and waste for your school and community?  Look at these recipes that minimize food waste and plan your own.  

Step 5: Ask a family member to share your recipe on social media using #WonderWednesdayTN and #LearningInPlaceTN!



Additional Resources:

Food Waste in America: Facts and Statistics

Kids Go Green: Waste Less

Everyone has to eat, so there are plenty of potential careers in the agricultural industry. While farmers and horticulturists use scientific methods and processes when studying and growing plants, there are a lot of other people involved in the food production process (as you have learned throughout this week). And don't forget that there are other fields beyond food that revolve around plants. A few examples of different careers include agricultural engineers, environmental engineers, food scientists, and landscape architects.

Today you will explore careers in agriculture and begin to think about how you fit into making sure that the right amount of food is produced.

Step 1: Farmers aren’t just farmers anymore. Many are now agricultural engineers utilizing science, math, and technology to maximize their product and understand their land.  Learn more about agricultural engineers here.

Step 2:  If you enjoy learning about environmental problems and creating environmental sustainability, you might enjoy a career as an environmental engineer.  Learn more about this collaborative career here.

Step 3: Food scientists have many different roles from quality to control to creating new recipes.  Food scientists, like all other scientists, must run experiments and test their hypotheses.  However, many of their experiments are tasty treats!  Find out more about the ways food scientists are making the food we eat even better here.

Step 4:  Have you ever wondered who designed your playground or the park? Landscape architects work in conjunction with other designers and engineers to create environments that have sustainable plant life and functional designs. If you like art and gardening, investigate landscape architecture here. 

Step 5:  Share a role in conservation and environmental science that interests you on social media using #FutureFridayTN and #LearningInPlaceTN!

Additional Resources:

Agricultural Simulator

Sustainable Gardening