D. Healthy Living · Healthy Living

Where Food Comes From: Local, Processed and Cultural Foods

D1.1 D3.1 A1.6About 45 minutes

Learning goals

I can describe where foods come from: grown, raised, caught or gathered, and then sold fresh or processed.
I can explain how the way a food is made (fresh, lightly processed or highly processed) can change how healthy it is.
I can explain how food choices can affect the environment, like packaging, food waste and how far food travels.
I can explain how local fresh foods and foods from different cultures give me more healthy choices.

Words to know

food origin
Where a food comes from and how it got to you.

local food
Food grown, raised or made close to where you live, like in Ontario.

imported food
Food that comes from another province or country.

processed food
Food that has been changed from how it was grown, like cut, cooked, frozen, canned or mixed with other things.

highly processed food
Food that has been changed a lot and often has added sugar, salt or fat, like candy, chips and pop.

environment
The land, water, air, plants and animals around us.

culture
The ways of life of a group of people, like their foods, language, celebrations and beliefs.

Where did your breakfast come from?

Think about your breakfast today. Maybe you had toast, an apple or a glass of milk. Before it was on your table, it went on a journey! Today you will be a food detective and find out where food comes from.

Remember from Grade 2

You learned to use Canada's Food Guide: fill half your plate with vegetables and fruits, a quarter with whole grain foods and a quarter with protein foods, and make water your drink of choice.

Where food starts

All food starts in nature. People get food in four main ways:

Grown on farms and in gardens: apples, carrots, wheat, corn.
Raised on farms: cows give milk, chickens give eggs.
Caught from lakes, rivers and oceans: fish like pickerel or salmon.
Gathered or harvested from the wild: wild blueberries, mushrooms, sap from maple trees for maple syrup.

Wooden crates of apples, corn, tomatoes, carrots, squash and peaches at an outdoor farmers' market in a small town. — Fresh food at a farmers' market: apples, corn, tomatoes, carrots, squash and peaches. All of these were grown on farms before they came to market. AI-generated image

A food's journey: farm, then a truck or factory, then the store, then your table.

Fresh, lightly processed and highly processed

When food is processed, it is changed from how it was grown. Some processing is helpful. Freezing peas or canning beans keeps them good to eat for a long time.

But when a food is highly processed, it is changed a lot. Often sugar, salt or fat is added and some of the good parts are taken out. That can make the food less healthy.

Look at how foods can change:

How it's made	Example	Healthy choice?
Fresh (just as it was grown)	🍎 a whole apple	Yes! Eat it often.
Lightly processed (cut, frozen, canned, dried, with little added)	unsweetened applesauce, frozen peas, canned beans	Yes, these are good choices too.
Highly processed (lots of sugar, salt or fat added)	apple-flavoured candy, fruit pop	Have these less often.

The closer a food is to how it was grown, the more of its good parts it usually keeps.

Frozen counts!

Frozen vegetables and fruits are usually frozen soon after they are picked, so they are still a healthy choice, especially in winter when fresh local food is harder to find.

Food and the environment

Our food choices also affect the environment:

How far food travels. Bananas and oranges can't grow outside in Ontario, so trucks, trains, ships or planes bring them from far away. Travel uses fuel. Local food travels a shorter distance.
Packaging. Lots of plastic wrapping makes garbage. A whole apple needs no wrapper!
Food waste. When food is thrown out, the water, land and work used to grow it are wasted too. Take only what you will eat, and save leftovers.

Local foods and foods from many cultures

Local fresh foods in Ontario change with the seasons: maple syrup in early spring, strawberries in early summer, corn and peaches in summer, apples and squash in the fall. Root vegetables like carrots and potatoes can be stored to eat in winter.

Canada is home to people from many cultures, and each one brings delicious healthy foods: dal (lentils) from South Asia, stir-fried bok choy from China, black beans and rice from the Caribbean and Latin America, hummus from the Middle East, and many more. Trying new foods gives you more healthy choices!

A year of local Ontario foods. Each season brings different fresh foods, and some, like carrots and potatoes, can be stored for winter.

The Three Sisters

Long before Canada was a country, First Nations people, including the Haudenosaunee, grew corn, beans and squash together. They are called the Three Sisters. The corn grows tall, the beans climb up the corn, and the big squash leaves shade the soil. The Anishinaabe harvest manoomin (wild rice) from lakes. These foods are still grown, harvested and enjoyed today.

Worked example

Let's trace a food

Where did a glass of milk come from?

Start: milk comes from cows raised on a dairy farm. Ontario has many dairy farms.
Processing: at a dairy, the milk is heated to kill germs (this is called pasteurizing) and put into cartons or bags.
Travel: a truck brings it to the store. Since it's from Ontario, it is a local food.
Healthy? Plain milk is only lightly processed. It is a healthy choice.

Milk goes from a farm to a dairy to the store to your table. Plain milk is a lightly processed, local food.

Worked example

Let's choose the better snack for our body and the Earth

It's September. You can choose: (A) a fresh Ontario apple, or (B) a fruit snack in a plastic pouch made with added sugar.

Think about health: the apple is fresh. The fruit snack is highly processed with added sugar.
Think about the environment: the apple is local (apples are picked in Ontario in the fall) and needs no wrapper. The pouch makes garbage.
Both reasons point the same way.

(A) the fresh Ontario apple is better for your body and for the environment.

Just for fun

It takes about 40 litres of maple sap to boil down into just 1 litre of maple syrup. That's a lot of sap for your pancakes!

Hands-on activity

Kitchen food detective

You need: a grown-up, your kitchen, paper and a pencil.

With your grown-up, pick 5 foods from your kitchen.
For each food, look for clues on the package: "Product of Canada", "Product of Ontario" or another country.
Make a chart with columns: Food | Where it's from | Fresh, lightly processed or highly processed | Packaging (lots or little).
Circle the food that is the most local. Put a star beside the least processed food.
Ask your family: is there a food from your culture or family tradition that you love? Where do its ingredients come from?

Bonus: Next time you shop, look for a sign showing which fruits and vegetables are from Ontario.

Your turn

Name the four ways people get food from nature.

Is a whole carrot fresh, lightly processed or highly processed?

Is a bag of frozen peas fresh, lightly processed or highly processed?

Is a bag of cheese puffs fresh, lightly processed or highly processed?

Why do bananas in Ontario come from far away?

Name one local Ontario food and the season it is picked.

What are the Three Sisters?

More practice: warm-up

Where does milk come from?

Is a fish from a lake grown, raised or caught?

Which makes less garbage: a whole orange or orange slices in a plastic cup?

Is maple syrup made from the sap of a tree or from milk?

True or false: frozen vegetables can be a healthy choice.

More practice: on your own

Put these in order from least processed to most processed: potato chips, a baked potato, a raw potato.

Why might a local strawberry in June have a smaller effect on the environment than a strawberry flown in from far away in January?

Your family has leftover rice. Give one way to avoid wasting it.

Name two foods from different cultures that are healthy choices.

Why can trying foods from other cultures help you eat healthy?

Challenge

It's January in Ontario. Fresh local strawberries are not growing. Name a choice that is local and healthy for a winter snack, and explain.

Juice and a whole orange both come from oranges. Explain why the whole orange is usually the healthier choice.

Plan a snack that is local, has little packaging and is not highly processed. Explain each part.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which food is caught?

Which food is highly processed?

Which choice is usually better for the environment?

In Ontario, which food is picked in the fall?

What are the Three Sisters?

Why is trying foods from different cultures a good idea?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: This lesson covers two Grade 3 expectations: demonstrate an understanding of how the origins of food affect its nutritional value, and how those factors and others can affect the environment (D1.1), and explain how local fresh foods and foods from different cultures can be used to expand their range of healthy eating choices (D3.1). Wording here is summarized from the 2019 Ontario curriculum.

How to help at home:

Read labels together for "Product of Canada" or the country of origin. Talk about what's in season.
Visit a farmers' market, a pick-your-own farm or a grocery store's local produce section.
Cook a family or cultural recipe together and talk about where the ingredients come from. Grown-up note: an adult handles knives, the stove and the oven.
Avoid calling foods "good" or "bad". Use "everyday foods" and "sometimes foods", and focus on choices, not guilt.

Common difficulties: thinking all processed food is unhealthy (freezing, canning and pasteurizing can be helpful); thinking juice is the same as fruit. Some families can't always choose local or fresh food because of cost or where they live; the lesson says to make the best choice with what you have.

This lesson also builds critical and creative thinking (A1.6) as your child compares choices and gives reasons.