Introduction
When school lunch provided to the students of Hearne Elementary is confronted with disdain and groans, it is primarily those foods on the higher end of the nutritional spectrum. Why do they turn their noses up at the healthier food options or not consider trying new foods to know if they like it or not? Is it possible that due to the lack of whole foods and farmer’s markets, they are limited in their knowledge of the deliciousness of these food choices, or is it because of their race and class they are not provided healthier food options as a community? This unit seeks to explore if the district of Hearne is deemed a food desert compared to other schools and not given equitable access to foods that could boost their learning and development is fair in a democracy. Drawing from conversations and readings taken from the seminar led by Ian Shapiro, writing standards will be addressed for 4th-grade students when they compose an opinion essay on why they are deserving of whole fresh foods at fair prices compared to neighboring towns.
As I observe my students pick over their lunches with looks of disgust on their faces, I wonder what I could do as their teacher to persuade them to venture from their current palate and try something new. The school's demographic makeup causes me to question why the few White students I teach so willingly enjoy the healthier snacks provided by the district and the Black students begrudgingly try them at all. Is it because their adults have not introduced them to try fresh produce as a snack, or is it because the options in the community do not exist for them?
My students are aware of the endless food choices due to having weight loss surgery three years ago. I share the consciousness of my food choices and how it is a lifestyle and not a diet. They are curious when they see me eating clean and enjoying produce unknown to them, such as mangoes, celery, peanut butter, snap peas, broccoli florets, baby carrots, blueberries, and raspberries. It is exciting when they try foods that may be foreign, and they find them enjoyable.
Providing students with opportunities to research where they live and limiting their accessibility to fresh foods hinders them. Could the lack of availability be causing food-related issues that affect their learning, their development and keeps them at the bottom of the metaphorical totem pole of knowledge? The inequality that affects the diets of my students will, I hope, spark change in them to advocate effectively for themselves and demand change. That change can have a ripple effect on the school, the district, the community. Jamila Lysicott poses several questions for not just me but other educators to ponder as well, "How will your classroom be remembered on the other side of the history that we are inscribing at this very moment? Fifteen years into the future, will your students recall a space where rampant racial injustices of our society went unacknowledged in your classroom? Where the different racial identities in the room and dynamics associated with these differences went unaddressed? Where the content of the curriculum ignored the cultures of their communities?"1 Providing my students with the content this curriculum unit will provide will answer most, if not all, of those questions for me while diligently teaching them to prevail in their society, a society that is increasingly brown in juxtapose to a majority-white world nationally.
When allowed to research and compare the food choices of their community to neighboring ones, students will critically think of solutions to the issue(s) they face with regards to the foods they eat moreover the foods that are available as options for them to consume.
Although I will teach the unit to 4th graders, other teachers can adapt the curriculum for different grade levels and communities whose socioeconomic breakdown is synonymous with Hearne Elementary.
Rich classroom discussions of the meanings of the words: food desert, democracy, inequality, and equity. Conversations that will deepen their understanding of what those things mean specifically for them as a community. Exposing students to literature through books, articles, and excerpts examine the lenses of what they are facing, why they are facing such a challenge, and what that means for them specifically as a society.
This unit could potentially be the springboard of adopting a proposal for students to create and start their whole foods market by planting, growing, and sustaining the foods typically unavailable to them for consumption. The garden could also earn money for the school while teaching students gardening, cultivating, and financial literacy skills.
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