Rethinking Food Systems
How Does What We Eat Affect the Planet? (For Grades 4-6)
At first, food might just seem like something you grow, cook, or eat. But behind every sandwich, snack, or salad is a whole system—and it affects the planet more than you might think!
Food systems include everything it takes to get food from the farm to your fork—and beyond. That means farming, packaging, shipping, eating, and even what we do with leftovers. Some parts of this system help the planet. Others cause pollution and waste. But here’s the good news: we can redesign it.
​​​How Our Food System Works—Step by Step:​
1. Growing the Food
Farms grow fruits, vegetables, grains, and animals. Some farms care for the soil and use fewer chemicals. Others use machines and fertilizers that release greenhouse gases.
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2. Processing & Packaging
After food is harvested, it often goes to factories. There, it's cleaned, packaged, or turned into snacks, sauces, and drinks. This step uses a lot of energy and plastic.
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​3. Transportation
Food travels long distances in trucks, planes, and ships. This burns fuel and adds more emissions to the atmosphere.
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4. Eating & Cooking
Cooking uses energy, especially with ovens and stoves. Choosing local or plant-based meals can reduce your food's climate impact.
5. Waste & Leftovers
Food gets thrown away at every step. When it rots in landfills, it releases methane—a powerful greenhouse gas.
“Fresh Facts” About Food
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The U.S. throws away about 38% of its food supply*, or 88.7 million tons each year.
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That waste costs over $473 billion annually**.
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Food waste is the largest single item in U.S. landfills***, making up 24% of trash.
What Happens When We Rethink the Food System?
Instead of just asking, “What should I eat?” ask:
“How did this food get here? Who grew it? What happened to the leftovers?”
That’s called systems thinking. It means zooming out to see the full story behind your snack.— zooming out to see the whole story behind your sandwich, your smoothie, or your snack.
When we ask better questions, we start seeing new answers—and we can redesign the food system to be:
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Cleaner – less pollution and plastic
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Closer – more local food and fewer delivery trucks
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Smarter – less waste and more reuse
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Fairer – better access for everyone
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Redesign the Future — Why This Matters, and Why You Matter
Food connects everything — the land, the air, our health, our choices. And since we all eat, we all have the power to change the system.
What if…
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Every school grew food in a rooftop garden?
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Every neighborhood had a fridge where you could share extra meals?
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Every restaurant used food grown within 20 miles?
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You designed a grocery store with no packaging and zero waste?
Change starts with questions. Big ones.
Start small. Think big. Redesign the world—one bite at a time.
Can we create the "perfect" farm? (For Grades 4-8th)
Let’s Go Deeper — The Science Behind Food Systems (Grades 8–10)
Food is more than just what we eat—it’s part of one of the most powerful systems shaping our planet. From the way we grow and ship food to what we waste, the food system impacts the climate, water, public health, and global equity.
How Food Systems Affect the Climate
Today’s food system is responsible for over 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions****.
That includes:
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Cutting down forests for farms and grazing
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Methane released by cows, landfills, and flooded rice fields
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Nitrous oxide from fertilizers and tilling soil
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Fossil fuels used in farming equipment, processing, packaging, and transport
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Energy-intensive refrigeration and global shipping
Every bite leaves a footprint—and some are much bigger than others. Beef, for example, uses far more land, water, and energy than beans or lentils.
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Rethinking Agriculture: From Extraction to Regeneration
For decades, industrial agriculture has focused on taking as much as possible from the land—often using chemicals and heavy machinery to increase yields.
But that approach can damage soil, pollute water, and release carbon into the atmosphere.
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Regenerative agriculture flips the script. Instead of extraction, it’s about healing ecosystems while producing food.
Key principles include:
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Building healthy soil through composting, no-till farming, crop rotation, and cover crops
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Restoring the water cycle by improving soil’s ability to hold moisture
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Capturing solar energy by keeping soil covered with plants year-round
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Recycling nutrients through natural inputs like compost instead of synthetic fertilizers
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Boosting biodiversity by growing many types of plants and reducing chemical use
These aren’t just farming practices—they’re systems that change how food is grown, where it’s grown, and who benefits from it.
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Why Regeneration Matters
Regenerative agriculture helps solve multiple problems at once:
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Healthier soils aren’t just good for plants—they also store more carbon, hold more water during droughts, and grow crops that are better able to survive extreme weather.
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More biodiversity means stronger ecosystems—pollinators, microbes, birds, and insects all work together to keep farms in balance without relying on chemicals.
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Carbon storage in soil helps pull COâ‚‚ out of the atmosphere, acting like a natural climate solution beneath our feet.
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Better water quality happens when fewer fertilizers and pesticides run off into rivers and lakes—and healthy soil filters water more effectively.
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Stronger local food systems mean less dependence on long, fragile supply chains—and more resilience when global disruptions happen.​​​​​
Redesign the Future: Why This Matters—and Why You Matter
Food systems aren’t just about farms—they’re about rethinking how we feed the world.
Right now, regenerative practices, local growing, and food-sharing networks are starting to make a difference—but that’s just the beginning. To truly build a climate-smart future, we need to go further. We need to design food systems that are healthier, fairer, more resilient, and closer to home.
Here’s the challenge:
A great idea means nothing if it can’t reach the people who need it most. Solutions must be affordable, fair, and built to work for everyone—not just a few.
But big change doesn’t begin with perfection. It begins with imagination—someone asking, “What if we did it differently?”
That someone could be you.
The future of food will be shaped by bold thinkers and creative doers—people ready to redesign how we grow, share, and nourish our world in ways that protect the planet and care for communities.
Think like a climate designer.
Start with empathy. Zoom out. Look at the full system.Then ask questions that push the edge of what’s possible like:
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What if neighborhoods had edible sidewalks—lined with fruit trees, herbs, and vegetables anyone could harvest?
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What if buildings were made of living walls that grew food and filtered air at the same time?
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What if food labels showed climate impact instead of just calories?
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What if we raised protein in vertical insect towers and flavored it with AI-designed spices?
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What if your fridge gave you recipes based on climate impact—and used AI to keep your food from going bad?
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What if restaurants gave carbon credits instead of receipts?
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What if your city banned food waste and turned every trash can into a mini biodigester that powers streetlights?
These aren’t just wild ideas.
They’re prompts for the world we need to build—and someone, someday, will bring them to life.
What if you could design the next great energy revolution—starting with the wind?
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​What if we got this right?
* ReFED, U.S. Food Waste Estimates for 2022
** ReFED, U.S. Food Waste Estimates for 2022
*** U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2019 Wasted Food Report (released April 2024)