Let’s face it—most staff don’t willingly volunteer for cafeteria duty. But with a few thoughtful tweaks, lunch doesn’t have to be the noisiest, most dreaded 30 minutes of the day.

From the farm to the table, with the classroom in between. Many farms across Canada follow organic practices and use natural methods to keep the soil fertile instead of chemicals. They welcome visitors to come and learn more about sustainable farming and food production. The following are a sampling of such farms that offer educational programs for school groups.

Food allergy is a growing health concern in North America and for good reason. Too many kids are having allergic reactions and going into anaphylactic shock while at school.

Royce Li knows of students who hadn’t cracked an egg before entering his Grade 11 class. “It’s shocking,” he says from Rick Hansen Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario where he teaches in the hospitality department. Students are used to meals from fast-food restaurants where products are often filled with unnecessary fats, sugars, and salt.

What we might think of as “home ec” now covers a wide variety of topics, like fashion and textiles, food and nutrition, human development, housing design, and more.

It’s important to make sure kids understand the difference between what’s healthy and what’s not. Field trips that teach about nutrition add value to their health and knowledge.