Sustainable Food Systems Education

Digging, planting, cooking, eating, and building community: it’s all part of the fun!

For many years, The Stop has provided fun and engaging workshops for children in Davenport West area schools in an effort to involve youth, their teachers and the wider community in the political and environmental issues that relate to food production and consumption.

With the launch of The Stop’s Green Barn, The Stop has been able to increase capacity and outreach to schools in the St. Clair and Christie neighbourhood. The Stop assists participating schools by providing hands-on educational activities that focus on food issues while directly supporting the learning goals of the Ontario curriculum.

The Stop’s Sustainable Food Systems Education Program is free of charge but only available to schools in the Davenport West and St. Clair/Christie area.

 

Grade 5 Program


The grade 5 program offers an in-depth look at food security, and a chance for kids to build on concepts throughout the school year. This program is comprised of five learning units, including:
  • The Real Dirt on Food Systems
  • The More We Get Together!
  • Growing Back to our Roots
  • Cooking Traditions
  • Scraps to Snacks
For more information on program goals, dates and curriculum connections, please refer to our grade 5 program brochure.

Good Food for All Forever – Every class in the program will receive a poster!

Grade 3 Program Day

The grade 3 program day at The Stop’s Green Barn offers kids a chance to experience the barns while they learn concepts connected to the science curriculum. This visit runs in the mornings from April to June. Activities include:

  • Tour of the barn
  • Making a vermin-compost bin
  • Compost and worm biology games
  • Planting and harvesting food crops

Elementary

For all classes in elementary schools, we offer a one-hour educational visit to our community garden at Earlscourt Park from May to June. Children and teens get a chance to play and learn outside while digging, planting seeds and doing activities that reinforce school curriculum.

Food Leadership for Youth

Food Leadership for Youth is an after-school program open to high school students who want to learn how to cook and grow food while engaging in issues related to personal health, environmental sustainability and social justice. This is program runs once a week from October to May.