| As the public health implications of the modern, industrialized food system have become more apparent, nutrition educators have begun to call for the education of consumers on how their food choices affect the health of the natural environment. Children are not only future consumers, but are consumers in their own right. Research also indicates that children are concerned about the health of the natural environment.; The purpose of this study was to conduct a process and outcome evaluation of the EarthFriends curriculum; a 7 week after-school program designed to teach 4th and 5th grade students how to make food choices which minimize the energy and natural resources used and pollution generated as a result of processing, packaging, and transporting food. Classes are based on cooking and hands-on food exploration.; This study used a quasi-experimental pre-post, intervention-control design with 240 students. Process evaluations showed that teachers covered 91% of the curriculum content and implemented 83% of all program activities. Data were analyzed using Analysis of Covariance with the class as the unit of analysis. Students' correct responses significantly improved on all knowledge measures, including correctly identifying (1) natural resources used for packaging (26% to 83%); (2) grocery items causing the least pollution (49% to 81%); and (3) items that can be composted (30% to 81%). The overall attitude scale improved significantly including, on a scale from 1 to 4, concern for the conservation of natural resources (2.12 to 2.83), production of garbage (2.68 to 3.03), and belief that individual actions can make the earth cleaner (3.24 to 3.59). There were significant improvements in three of nine behavioral intention questions including, selecting foods with less packaging (1.64 to 2.17), choosing foods in recyclable packages (1.96 to 2.36), and asking family members to food shop at a farmers market (1.21 to 1.67). These findings suggest that a comprehensive curriculum that emphasizes cooking and food-based explorations, using ecological concern as a motivator for food choice, can improve children's knowledge and concern about the environmental impacts associated with the food system and to a lesser degree their behavioral intentions to make sustainable, “earthfriendly” food choices. |
