Food and Nutrition Curriculum

When teaching children and youth about food and nutrition, it's important to ensure that lessons are age-appropriate and that they support students in developing a healthy relationship with food and with their body. Messages about food should be positive and focus on opportunities to learn about food using the five senses (see, smell, touch, hear and taste). Activities that expose students to a variety of foods and provide hands-on opportunities to grow, cook, and taste food are encouraged.

To support students to build a positive relationship with food, in a diet- and weight -obsessed world, we encourage educators to:

Avoid talking about “good and bad” foods.
Avoid food tracking and calorie counting.
Avoid weighing students or calculating BMI.

Also see the Mental Well-Being page for body image content.

Teaching about food in the classroom

For ideas on how to teach about food in the classroom, visit the following websites:

All About Food Allergy student program | Food Allergy Canada. Access access lesson plans, presentations, resources, and more to help develop student knowledge and skills to support the health and well-being of self and others.
BrightBites | Ontario Dietitians in Public Health. Educator resources to create a supportive school food climate and foster positive relationships with food and bodies.
Canada's food guide kids: toolkit for educators | Health Canada. Activities can be used with children to help them learn food skills, develop healthy eating patterns and understand Canada’s food guide.
Food for Thought - Improving Food Literacy | Ophea. Resource that integrates food literacy and media literacy into discussions about healthy eating to provides students with the skills they need to make healthier food choices in a variety of settings.
Food is Science | Sustain Ontario. Hands-on tools for teaching science through food in grades 3 to 9.
Healthy Relationship with Food | Alberta Health Services. Tips for teachers to promote a healthy relationship with food at school.
Let’s Get Cookin’ | Huron Perth Public Health. Training for educators, along with lesson outlines and recipes, to provide hands-on food literacy lessons for grades 4 to 8.
Rainbow Food Explorers kit | Huron Perth Public Health. A grab and go curriculum kit for K to grade 3 with interactive activities for age-appropriate teaching and learning about food. To borrow the kit, submit a School Health Request.
Reimagine Nutrition Education | Nutrition Education & Consulting. Resources, courses/webinars, and consulting services for K-12 educators.
Teach Food First | Healthy Schools BC. Best-practice approaches, resources and lesson plans to teach and talk about food and nutrition with K-8 students.

Other resources

Mini-meals for school nutrition breaks | Huron Perth Public Health. Ideas, recipes and tips for packing food for the school day.