Curriculum Guides

Healthy Foods from Healthy Soils
Elizabeth Patten & Kathy Lyons. Tilbury House Publishers 2007. 
Help children understand how their food choices affect not only their own health, but also farmers, the environment, and your local community. This book invites you and your students 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, and recycling back to the soil. Includes background information and a guide for integrating activities into the classroom. 

Math in the Garden
Jennifer White, Katharine Barrett, Jaine Kopp. National Gardening Association 2006. The activities are grouped by the predominant mathematics strands and support the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Principals and Standards of School Mathematics and the National Academy of Sciences National Standards for Science Education. Each investigation has an simple step-by­-step format and can be completed within an hour. The inexpensive equipment and materials necessary for the activities can be found in most homes and garden programs. 

Growing Food: “Linking Food and the Environment, An Inquiry-­Based Science and Nutrition Program” 
Pamela Kotch, Angela Calabrese Barton, Isobel Contento. Teachers College Columbia University & National Gardening Association 2007. The Growing Food module provides experiences for students to learn science through the study of food systems. The module’s driving question—How des nature provide us with food?—frames students investigations as they learn about critical ideas in science. Grades 4­6. 

Farm to Table & Beyond: “Linking Food and the Environment, An Inquiry­Based Science and Nutrition Program”
Pamela Kotch, Angela Calabrese Barton, Isobel Contento. Teachers College Columbia University & National Gardening Association 2007. 
In the Farm to Table & Beyond module, students learn science through the study of food systems. The module’s driving question—What is the system that gets food from farm to table and how does this system affect the environment?—frames students’ investigations of our complex and highly technological, global food system. Students develop an understanding of systems and examine the interacting parts of the food system. Grades 5­6. 

Early Sprouts: Cultivating Healthy Food Choices in Young Children
Kattie Kalich, Dottie Bauer, Deirdre McPartlin. Redleaf Press 2009. A research-­based early childhood curriculum, this seed-­to­-table approach encourages young children to eat more vegetables by planting, harvesting, and preparing their own organically grown produce.The book assists you in designing and caring for gardens, provides sensory exploration and cooking activities, and promotes healthy eating at home and at school. 

Beyond the Bean Seed: Gardening Activities for Grades K­6
Nancy Jurenka & Rosanne Blass. Teacher Ideas Press 1996. Lessons integrate gardening, children's literature, and language arts through creative activities that that have poetry, word play, and recipes. Literature-­based projects lead to learning in a variety of subjects-­from ecology, history, and geography to career exploration and the sciences. An annotated bibliography provides a list of gardening-­related resources. Grades K­6. 

French Fries and the Food System
Sara Coblyn. The Food Project. This year­-round curriculum provides kids from varied backgrounds a fertile environment in which they can develop an appreciation for the close links between farming and food systems. Lessons range from practical, hands­on activities to social and economic aspects of the food cycle. The lessons and activities are organized by seasons. This book is an excellent resource for classroom and community educators. Geared toward teenagers. 

The Worm Café: Mid­-Scale Vermicomposting of Lunchroom Wastes
Binet Payne. Flower Press, 1999. This manual describes how a teacher and her students developed a system to compost lunchroom waste with worms and save their school $6000 per year. Teachers, decision­-makers, and activists in school, small businesses, and community groups will welcome this unique material. This comprehensive how­-to manual gives complete steps for conducting school-­wide waste audits, harvesting worm castings, incorporating lunchroom waste­-composting into a recycling program, determining worm bin size, location, and costs, setting up worm bins, providing worm bedding, recognize worm anatomy, teaching about ecosystems and foodwebs with worm bins. 

Cultural Uses of Plants: a guide to learning about ethnobotany
Gabriell DeBear Paye. The New York Botanical Garden Press, 2000. 
Teachers will appreciate the fact that this volume not only satisfies the National Science Education Standards, but also can supplement the curriculum of Social Studies, History, Language Arts, Health, Mathematics, Environmental Science, or Biology classes. The significant lists of resources provided in the book's appendix make it easy for teachers and students to further explore any topic that interested them in the course of reading. 

Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Activities To Do in the Garden
Sharon Lovejoy. Workman Publishing, New York, 1999. This book presents 12 spirited, easy-­to-­implement ideas for theme gardens that parents and kids can grow together. 

TWIGS Youth Development Program: Focus on Gardening and Nutrition
University of California Cooperative Extension, 1997. This 125 page curriculum package includes 30 field tested lessons connecting gardening with nutrition for children in Kindergarten through sixth grade. The focus is on positively influencing participant’s nutritive choices through the development and harvesting of a vegetable garden.

Lessons are flexible, meant to be selected based on interests, timing of project, and available materials. Nearly all lessons include a Handout suitable for reproducing. Many original illustrations are included. 

Botany on Your Plate: Investigating the Plants We Eat
Katharine D. Barrett, Jennifer M. White, Christine Manoux. The National Gardening Association, 2008. This investigative science curriculum introduces the world of plants through foods we eat. Children explore edible roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds through observation, dissection, journaling, discussion of findings, and, of course, tasting! Supports standards in nutrition, math, language arts, and social studies. Every lesson includes plant snacks that spark curiosity, interesting questions, and social dialogue to fuel the learning process. grades K­-4. 

GrowLab: Activities for Growing Minds
National Gardening Association. This complete curriculum uses fun, illustrated activities to explore plant life cycles, examine plant diversity, and investigate the interdependence of plants, humans, and other living and nonliving things. It's a must for any plant-­based studies! Meets National Science Standards; grades K-­8. 

The Growing Classroom – Garden and Nutrition Activity Guide
Life Lab This Life Lab book has step­-by­-step instructions for setting up a garden-­based science program and outdoor classroom activities. Topics include working together in the garden, growing, nutrients, garden ecology, climate, nutrition, gardening tips, and food choices. The new edition includes updated content as well as an expanded gardening tips section. On-­line searchable lesson guide based on lesson, grade, and standard. 

Garden Detectives
Garden Detectives is a curriculum guide and gardening book that helps students use their powers of observation to solve the mystery of creating a healthy garden. The language is geared for kids 10 and older, but the concepts are applicable to and easily adapted by teachers for younger children. Students explore their garden environment through 20 hands-­on activities covering soil fertility, planting strategies, plant selection, composting, watering techniques, and beneficial plants and insects. The guide includes an extensive reference section on nontoxic, kid­-friendly treatments for the top 10 garden pests in coastal Southern California. Perfect for home or school gardens. Grades 4-­8. 

Junior Master Gardeners
A series of books available through kidsgardening.com that includes Health and Nutrition from the Garden, Literature in the Garden, and Youth & Leader Handbooks for becoming Certified Junior Master Gardeners. 

Worms Eat Our Garbage by Mary Appelhof
This curriculum uses over 150 worm-­related classroom or home activities to develop problem­-solving and critical-­thinking skills in children grades 4­8. Activities integrate science, mathematics, language arts, biology, solid waste issues, ecology, and the environment. Grades 4­-8 

Books for Educators & Parents

It's Our Garden: From Seeds to Harvest in a School Garden
George Ancona

The Art of Leading Collectively: Co-Creating a Sustainable, Socially Just Future
by Petra Kuenkal

The Food Activist Handbook: Big & Small Things You Can Do To Help Provide Fresh, Healthy Food For Your Community
by Ali Berlow

Good Morning, Beautiful Business: The Unexpected Journey of an Activist Entrepreneur and Local-Economy Pioneer
by Judy Wicks

Seeing Seeds: A Journey Into The World of Seedheads, Pods and Fruit
by Terri Dunn Chace

The Vegetable Gardener's Guide to Permaculture: Creating an Edible Ecosystem
by Christopher Shein

Farms With A Future: Creating and Growing a Sustainable Farm Business
by Rebecca Thistlewaite

The New Livestock Farmers: The Business of Raising and Selling Ethical Meats
by Rebecca Thistlewaite

More Than Just Food: Food Justice and Community Change
by Garrett M. Broad

Edible Schoolyard: A Universal Idea
by Alice Waters

The Family Kitchen Garden: How to Plant, Grow, and Cook Together
by Karen Liebreich

The Practice of Eating
by Alan Warde

The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture
by Wendell Berry

Food Politics: How The Food Industry Influences Nutrition And Health
by Marion Nestle

Forked: A New Standard For American Dining
by Saru Jayaraman

Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed
by Vandana Shiva

The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution
by Alice Waters

What to Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating
by Marion Nestle

Coming Home to Eat: The Pleasures and Politics of Local Foods
by Gary Paul Nabhan

Food Sovereignty: Towards Democracy in Localized Food Systems
by Michael Windfuhr

Holy Cows and Hog Heaven: The Food Buyer's Guide to Farm Friendly Food
by Joel Salatin

Food For Thought: Towards A Future For Farming
by Jose Bove (Introduction by), Richard Kuper, and Patrick Herman

Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front
by Joel Salatin

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
by Michael Pollan

The Gift of Good Land: Further Essays, Cultural and Agricultural
by Wendell Berry

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
by Michael Pollan

The Farm to Table Cookbook: The Art of Eating Locally
by Ivy Manning

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
by Barbara Kingsolver

Fast Food Nation : The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
by Eric Schlosser

Cook Food: A Manualfesto for Easy, Healthy, Local Eating
by Lisa Jervis

From the Farm to the Table: What All Americans Need to Know about Agriculture
by Gary Holthaus

Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and manipulated into what America Eats
by Steve Ettlinger

Ending Hunger in Our Lifetime: Food Security and Globalization
by Benjamin Senauer

The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America's Underground Food Movements
by Sandor Ellix Katz

Diet For A Dead Planet: How The Food Industry Is Killing Us
by Christopher Cook

Hungry For Profit: The Agribusiness Threat To Farmers, Food, And The Environment
by John Bellamy Foster (Editor) and Fred Magdoff (Editor)

Sharing the Harvest: A Citizen's Guide to Community Supported Agriculture
by Elizabeth Henderson

Guerrilla Gardening: A Manualfesto
by David Tracey

The Essential Agrarian Reader : The Future of Culture, Community, and the Land
edited by Norman Wirzba

Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply
by Vandana Shiva

Seed Sovereignty, Food Security: Women in the Vanguard of the Fight Against GMO's and Corporate Agriculture
by Vandana Shiva

Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness
by Lisa M. Hamilton

Eating Fossil Fuels: Oil, Food And The Coming Crisis In Agriculture
by Dale Allen Pfeiffer

Food Not Lawns: How To Turn Your Yard Into A Garden And Your Neighborhood Into A Community
by Heather C Flores

Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally
by Alisa Smith and J. B. MacKinnon

Bringing the Food Economy Home: Local Alternatives To Global Agribusiness
by Steven Gorelick

Lunch Wars: How to Start a School Food Revolution and Win the Battle for Our Children's Health
by Amy Kalafa

Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food
by Paul Greenberg

Free for All: Fixing School Food in America
by Jan Poppendick

Farm Together Now: A Portrait of People, Places, and Ideas for a New Food Movement
by Amy Franceschini and Daniel Tucker

Meat: A Benign Extravagance
by Simon Fairlie

The Dirty Life
by Kristin Kimball

Food Rebellions: Crisis and the Hunger for Justice
by Raj Patel

Food Trends and the Changing Consumer
by Benjamin Senauer

Farm City
by Novella Carpenter

The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food
by Ben Hewitt

City Bountiful: A Century of Community Gardening in America
by Laura Lawson

Mad Farmer Poems
by Wendell Berry

Lunch Lessons:  Changing the Way We Feed Our Children
by Ann Cooper

Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability
by Michael K. Stone

Bringing It to the Table: On Farming and Food
by Wendell Berry

Growing Roots: The New Generation of Sustainable Farmers, Cooks, and Food Activists
by Katherine Leiner

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual
by Michael Pollan

Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals
by Jamie Oliver

Raising Less Corn, More Hell: The Case for the Independent Farm and Against Industrial Agriculture
by George Pyle

Feast or Famine: Food, Farming, and Farm Politics in America
by Ed Edwin

The Global Food Economy: The Battle for the Future of Farming
by Tony Weis

Family Farming: A New Economic Vision
by Marty Strange

Tough Choices: Facing the Challenge of Food Scarcity
by Lester Russell Brown

Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future
by Bill McKibben

The End of Food
by Paul Roberts

Do You Know Where Your Food Comes From? (Making Healthy
Food Choices series)
by Neil Morris

Chew On This: Everything You Don’t Want to Know About Fast Food
by Charles Wislon and Eric Schlosser.

Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It
by Anna Lappé

Discovering Careers for Your Future: Food
by Ferguson

Beyond the Kale: Urban Agriculture and Social Justice Activism in New York City
by Kristin Reynolds and Nevin Cohen

Young Readers

Before We Eat: From Farm to Table
Patt Brisson

Worm Weather
Jean Taft

The Good Garden: How One Family Went From Hunger to Having Enough
Katie Smith Millway

From Seed to Plant
Gail Gibbons

Farming
Gail Gibbons

Corn
Gail Gibbons

Farmer Will Allen & the Growing Table
Jacqueline Briggs Martin

Compost Stew: An Z to Z Recipe for the Earth
Mary McKenna Siddals

A Farmer's Alphabet
by Mary Azarian

A Gardener's Alphabet
Mary Azarian

The Honeybee Man
Lela Nargi

The Food Parade: Healthy Eating with the Nutritious Food Groups
Elicia Castaldi

Sophie's Squash
Pat Zietlow Miller

Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature
Joyce Sidman

The Tortilla Factory
Gary Paulsen

Carrots (Life Cycles)
Gail Saunders-Smith

Pumpkin Circle The Story of a Garden
by George Levenson

To Market, to Market
By Nikki McClure

The Scarecrow
by Cynthia Rylant

Growing Vegetable Soup
by Lois Ehlert

Blueberries for Sal
by Robert McCloskey

Fanny at Chez Panisse: A Child's Restaurant Adventures with 46 Recipes
by Alice Waters

I Like Vegetables
by Lorena Siminovich

On the Farm
by David Elliott

Green Eggs and Ham
by Dr. Seuss

A Harvest of Color: Growing a Vegetable Garden
by Melanie Eclare

This Year's Garden
by Cynthia Rylant

The Curious Garden
by Peter Brown

The Beeman
by Laurie Krebs and Valeria Cis

Scarlette Beane
by Karen Wallace

Herb the Vegetarian Dragon
by Jules Bass and Debbie Harter

Two Old Potatoes and Me
by John Coy

All the Places to Love
by Patricia MacLachlen

Insectlopedia
by Douglas Florian

An Edible Alphabet: 26 Reasons to Love the Farm
by Carol Watterson

Jack's Garden
by Henry Cole

How Did That Get in My Lunchbox?: The Story of Food
by Chris Butterworth

Chew On This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food
by Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson

Grow It, Cook It with Kids
by Amanda Grant

Winter on the Farm
by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Eat Fresh Food: Awesome Recipes for Teen Chefs
by Rozanne Gold

The Omnivore's Dilemma: Young Readers Edition
by Michael Pollan

What the World Eats
by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio

Toxins in the Food Chain: Protecting Our Planet
by Sarah Levete

Food for Thought: The Stories Behind the Things We Eat
by Ken Robbins

Fake Foods: Fried, Fast, and Processed: The Incredibly Disgusting Story
by Paula Johanson

Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening
by Peter Burke

Films

Deconstructing Supper
Fragile Harvest
Sowing for Need or Sowing for Greed?
The Greenhorns
The Future of Food
Broken Limbs
King Corn
Food for Thought
Twilight Becomes Night
Real Dirt on Farmer John
Troublesome Creek
The Garden Cycles: Faces From The New Farm
Food, Inc
Sustainable Table: What's on Your Plate
The Garden
To Market to Market to Buy a Fat Pig
Two Angry Moms
Super Size Me