Author: Ann Vote
Do your students know where their food is grown? How about what vegetables are found in their soup? This engaging lesson helps students identify the source of the food they eat and investigate the processes and people involved in getting food from the farm to their spoon.
The Book
"Who Grew My Soup" is a fictional book about a kid who wants to know who grew the vegetables found in his soup. The book takes readers on a journey from farms to fields of where his vegetables are grown. Many students can recognize vegetables from an ingredient label but do they truly know where those foods are grown and how they get in the soup?
Watch the 3 minute video of author Tom Darbyshire reading the book Who Grew My Soup? here!
The Lesson
The "Who Grew My Soup" lesson takes students on an engaging adventure from farm to spoon. Reading, writing and geography are all highlighted in this 45 minute lesson plan. Students will learn facts about vegetables, meet the farmers who grow those vegetables, can watch a video of the author, Tom Darbyshire, read the story to them and map where their food comes from.
Did you know that one farmer in the US feeds 165 people worldwide?
Within this lesson students will be able to explore the National Geographic Mapmaker Interactive to find out how many miles their food has to travel to get to their plate.
This lesson offers a great perspective about how big (miles-wise) and how small (global trade) our world really is, especially when it comes to agriculture.