Food for Thought: Your food, your footprint

Food for Thought: Your food, your footprint, allows families or classrooms to learn about their environmental footprint in terms of the food they eat. This app was created by the CoLearnLab from the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign’s College of Education.

ABOUT THE APP
Use the Food for Thought app to start conversations around the REAL cost of our food. By examining the carbon and water footprint, calories, and cost, teachers and parents can engage students in conversations about the impact of their food choices from economic, social, and environmental perspectives. The cross disciplinary nature of the app provides flexibility, so it can be used in science, social studies, math, and language arts classrooms, depending on the learning goals of the educator. 

HOW TO USE
When you drag food onto the plate, the graphs will show the water and carbon foot print of producing each food, as well as the cost and calories per serving. Use the grey bar to scroll through 24 different foods. Try different meals and discuss the impact of your food choices on the environment!