Food Waste Reduction Project Learning
Provided by: Oregon Green School|Published on: July 31, 2026
Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12
Type: Lesson Plans
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences, Civics, Geography, English Language Arts
Authors: Oregon Green School, Breck Foster
Region: Oregon
Languages: English
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- This project-based unit has students study the food system and where wasted food occurs along the supply chain, connecting food waste to food insecurity and climate change at national and global scales.
- Students evaluate prevention, rescue, and recovery solutions, research food waste in their own community, and craft a roadmap such as a bill, policy, action plan, or education campaign to present to a real audience.
- The unit spans ten 45-minute class periods plus project time and includes learning logs, vocabulary, research links, project rubrics, and an accompanying slideshow.
Teaching Materials
Classroom Implementation:
- The unit is interdisciplinary across English Language Arts, Environmental Science, and Social Studies, so consider partnering with other teachers at your school to collaborate in the delivery and class periods dedicated to the unit.
- Connect students with community experts and partners such as food banks, sustainability groups, or city council members to serve as an authentic audience for final presentations.
- Although this unit is designed for schools in Oregon, it can be easily adapted to other states by switching out some of the Oregon-specific resources.
Literacy Connections:
- Support the research and policy-writing steps with source-evaluation and citation instruction, and offer example climate action plans or legislation as scaffolds.
Differentiation:
- Differentiate final products by allowing bills, policies, action plans, or education campaigns delivered as writing, video, podcast, or websites.
- For the final project, group students heterogeneously according to different strengths to support collaboration and peer learning or homogeneously to support or scaffold for multiple students at once.
This unit tasks students with investigating food waste, with constant focus on sustainability and equity, culminating in an action plan. All documents and slideshows are well sourced, plus a collection of quality sources for student research is also provided. At every step, climate change connections are made. This unit is very comprehensive and is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
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