Video: Where Does Food Come From?
Selina Knowles, Communications Coordinator
August 18, 2022
In our Foodwise Kids program, students are encouraged to explore the bounty of the farmers market and ask questions as they savor ripe summer berries and the sample florets of purple cauliflower and other less familiar veggies. After immersing themselves in the wide variety of produce, personally meeting the farmers, and bravely tasting their farmers market finds, kids leave the market with a bigger appetite to know how food makes it to their plate.
When kids weren’t able to come to the farmers market in person due to the pandemic, we continued to feed their curiosity about food remotely. As part of our adaptation to online learning, Foodwise filmed six videos that educators can now share with students wherever they are. In one of these videos, “Where Does Food Come From?” Foodwise’s Director of Education, Tiffany Chung, brings viewers of all ages along on a visit to Oya Organics, a diversified organic vegetable farm in Hollister, California.
In the video, farmers Marsha Habib and Modesto Sanchez Cruz, with some help from their daughter Saori, care for broccoli seedlings until they are ready to be transplanted into the fields, where they become full-grown veggies. Marsha and Modesto walk us through the growing process, and Marsha also shares how kids respond to these farm-fresh vegetables when they see them in the fields.
“I’ve seen kids come out to our farm and say that they don’t like broccoli or they don’t like lettuce or they don’t like tomatoes,” Marsha says. ”And then I say, ‘Here, try this,’ or ‘Go over there and pick the reddest or the most orange one you can find.’ And they’ll pick it and eat it and they’ll be like, ‘Wow, that is really good.’ They realize that maybe they do like tomatoes if they’re picked fresh from the plant or grown to ripeness on the plant.”
Through our free Foodwise Kids field trips to the farmers market, SFUSD students get the chance to try fresh, locally grown produce, connect with the people who grow the food, and explore where their food comes from. For Tiffany and the education team, one of the main goals of the Foodwise Kids program is “having kids be exposed to all the different fruits and vegetables, especially at the farmers market, and be more open-minded about trying things.”
Now, in addition to meeting farmers at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, kids are also able to see where and how their food grows and deepen their understanding of farmers’ work. These videos remain a useful tool for educators, supplementing in-person visits to the farmers market and expanding the depth of education Foodwise is able to offer students by taking kids not only to the farmers market, but also to the farmers’ fields—at least, virtually.
This also supports teachers in continuing conversations around how food is grown, who grows it, and how it gets to our plates. SFUSD teacher Perez Shea says, “This is a great video. Part of our [learning] standards is food production, and it was nice to touch on that before the end of school by taking a virtual field trip to Oya Organics.”
The video series allows Foodwise to reach kids and families beyond the Bay Area, too. One of the most popular videos in the series, “Where Does Food Come From?” has now been viewed over 5,600 times on YouTube, since being posted last year. Watch the video, take a virtual visit to a farm, and see for yourself where your food comes from!
Help Foodwise provide rich learning experiences for kids in the farmers market, in the classroom, and wherever they are this fall by donating now to our Back to School, Back to the Farmers Market campaign! Get us to our $25,000 goal by the end of August.
Online Resources for Kids, Families & Schools
Now students and families can experience Foodwise Kids wherever they are! We developed these video resources to supplement our in-person field trips and classes, while extending the experience to students, families, and educators who are not able to visit in person.
Topics: Farmers, Foodwise Kids, Video