| Children have always learned about food from adults. What and how they learn has changed throughout the centuries. However, the experience most children have in the United States today is different than most of human history. They buy foods in supermarkets with vast numbers of highly processed, highly packaged food products that take considerable energy to produce, package and transport.;Given this, many scholars are encouraging nutrition educators to incorporate the entire food system and its negative environmental consequences into their education efforts.;This study evaluated and compared two ten-lesson, school-based nutrition education curricula in elementary school children. Both curricula based their content on a plant-based diet to promote ecological sustainability. One, the Cookshops, involved cooking and eating vegetables and whole grains in the classroom with the same recipes being offered at school lunch. The second, Food & Environment Lessons, did not have direct experience with food but used other active methods to teach the students about eating plant-based diet for personal health and ecological sustainability.;Two schools participated in the study, with classes assigned to one of four study conditions through matching: Cookshops and Food & Environment Lessons (10 classes), Cookshops only (11 classes), Food & Environment Lessons (9 classes) and Comparison (9 classes). Both schools had classes in all four conditions. Students in all groups received lunchroom modifications with the 13 targeted vegetables and whole grains being served on a rotation basis throughout the intervention period.;Results, analyzed with class as the unit of analysis, found that students who received Cookshops ate more of the targeted food at school lunch, with the results being stronger for younger students (K--3rd grade) (p .01) than older students (4th--6th grade) (p .10). Students who received Cookshops also increased their preferences for targeted foods (p .001). Behavioral intentions increased for younger students who received Cookshops (p .01). Knowledge increased in all intervention groups (p .05). Attitudes and cooking self-efficacy were not improved.;Thus, the Cookshop approach is quite effective, especially for younger students. The methods and results of this study can be used to guide future interventions aimed at increasing ecologically sustainable food choices. |
