It is my opinion that, if one wants to eat sustainably, one must commit to eating seasonally (as best they can.) I have three main reasons for this position:

1. No matter where you live, consuming foods that grow within a particular season will ensure the freshest possible ingredients (fruits and vegetables especially). If you want to ‘eat local’ then you will inevitably ‘eat seasonally,’ since local farms follow the seasons and provide foods that grow best in each climate.
2. From a menu writing perspective, seasonal eating forces you to limit the variety of meal options. In turn, the goal of preparing a weekly menu is less overwhelming because you focus on a set number of ingredients.
3. Learning the foods of each season is an important lesson in food literacy. But this is also a profound way of reconnecting with your environment – be it your city, state or region. When you begin to think about seasons you also consider climate, natural landscapes (mountains, rivers, fields, etc) and where you live. Knowing what grows when and where is a key piece to strengthening local food systems.

For all of these reasons, the second week of the “health eating and meal planning” class will be devoted to seasonal foods. Since the first hour of the class is a great opportunity to teach food literacy, what better way to engage families then by thinking seasonally? I am happy to report that this will serve as an important lesson in eating healthy foods and planning great meals. Even better, this lesson includes some fun activities to get folks thinking about this issue.

The class will begin with a “welcome back” introduction of sorts. During the first ten minutes of class everyone will get settled and we will find out who did their homework. I will provide a “reward” for those families that completed the assignment. At the same time, for those who were not able to plan and prepare one meal using 3 whole food items (the homework “assignment,”) I will facilitate a group discussion on this challenge. I think its important for people to share these frustrations with their family members and with the class as a whole. One minor goal is for the families to see one another as resources. Since all 7 families will experience the class together, this discussion will enable each group to discuss the success and failures with each other.

Next, I will introduce our first activity to the class. On the board I will have written up a list of the four seasons. I will distribute a worksheet to each family; the paper will be broken up into 4 boxes. Each section will be titled with one of the four seasons. Families have 5 minutes to write down all of the fruits and vegetables they can think of that grow in each season. After 5 minutes, a volunteer from each group will share their answers with the class and I will write them up on the board. After all families have shared, I will facilitate a brief discussion on the similarities of the seasonal foods. I will ask questions like,

• What are similarities among the foods?
• What are differences?
• What are the colors, the textures, the smells and the tastes?

Beyond knowing the names of certain produce items, it’s obviously important to identify which is which. My goal reaches beyond this though, as I hope that people will begin to consider the relationship between the climate of a season and the texture or color or taste of a food item. I also hope that connections will be made between the various food items of a given season, i.e. the vegetables of winter.

The second activity will emphasize the goal of identifying food items, and providing a context for people to find nuanced similarities between seasonal foods. Each group will be given an assortment of 3 winter fruits and vegetables. Each table will have 5 minutes to determine what each item is. When time is up, a member from each group will share their guesses with the class. Again, once everyone has shared, I will ask the same questions as before to see if this exercise helped participants see the similarities and characteristics of seasonal foods.

At the end of the activity I will tell each family that they are to keep the 3 food items they received, which may come in handy for the homework challenge. The last part of the class will include a class discussion on this issue of seasonality. The questions I intend to ask are,

• Is it important to know the seasonality of fruits and vegetables? Why or why not?
• What could be the benefits of this knowledge?
• How can we learn the seasonality of food? What are our resources?

As I have said before and will say again, it is of most importance that participants of the class question their food. I do not expect everyone to strive towards seasonal eating, but I do hope that families will consider the perspective. If one wants to eat healthier food, save money or help the environment, eating seasonally is an important place to begin.

To encourage families to pursue this option I will also provide copies of Edible Portland. This local publication is part of a national organization that helps communities across the country publish a seasonal guide to local foods. The magazine is not only free, but also includes great articles on local food and an excellent chart of seasonal foods in Oregon.

Edible Portland might also come in handy for this week’s homework challenge: to prepare a meal (as a family) that includes at least 2 seasonal foods (that are also whole.)

And so concludes the lesson plan for the second class.

Related posts:

1. The Food Curriculum Project (part VI) “Lesson Plan 4″
2. The Food Curriculum Project (part III) “Lesson Plan 1″
3. The Food Curriculum Project (part V) “Lesson Plan 3″
4. The Kale Vacuum
5. The Food Curriculum Project (part I)

Tags: food literacy, portland, seasonal eating