Let Food Be Thy Medicine

In the spring of 2019, a group of our High School students traveled to Hana, HI to learn about our current food situation and how it affects us all.

The CDC states that 39.8% of Americans were obese in 2015-2016 (~93.3 million adults) and attributes much of this to poor food choices and lack of exercise. In order to set TEA students up for success, we created a Learning Intensive called “Let Food Be Thy Medicine” to give them the tools required to lead a healthy lifestyle, reduce obesity, live within varying budgets, and eat the tastiest foods possible.

In the spring of 2019, a group of our High School students traveled to Hana, HI to learn about our current food situation and how it affects us all. They learned how to navigate and care for themselves through proper food and diet choices, as well as how to meal plan and budget their dietary choices. One of the main goals in this course was to inform and empower students so they were aware of the many impacts their food choices have.

The guiding questions included:
– How do I meal plan and budget a nutritious menu?
– What does food reveal about a culture?
– How can the food I choose to eat make an impact on the world we live in?
– What are the positive and negative impacts of bioengineered foods and organically grown foods?

Watch the video to see how the students learned to plan and implement a well-rounded, budget-friendly, meal plan while engaging with a local culture focused on community and sustainability.