During the past several months, my daughter Stephanie and I have written for this column seven environmental articles:        

"Introduction to Teaching Climate Change in Culinary Classrooms," September 2022
"Including Environmental Issues in Your Day-to-Day Teaching," October 2022
"Using Tacos to Teach Environmental Issues," November 2022
"The Cost of Corn,"  December 2022
"The Cost of Beef,"  January 2023
"Seafood Sustainability—Part One," February 2023 (Part One)
"Seafood Sustainability—Part Two," March 2023 (Part Two)

We did our best to keep our personal views out and to keep in perspective that there are often many sides to the same issue. All we asked you to do was teach your students about the issues so they can make their independent intelligent conclusions.

We are changing up this article’s format. We are going to write about the power you as a teacher have and the power that each of your students has; the power to change the world. The idea for this concluding article on the environment came from the TBS animated series, “Captain Planet and The Planeteers,” which launched in September 1990 and ran for 113 episodes. The show’s theme was that students like yours, known as ‘planeteers,’ had the power to change the world, especially environmentally.

Stephanie, who is a credential science teacher for grades six through 12, will begin with a baker’s dozen ideas your students can do to flex their power and change the world. This list is intentionally short and sweet so they can hang it and see it often:

1. Save energy by turning off the lights when not using them as well as unplugging unused appliances. Close the refrigerator door all the way, every time.
2. Save water by turning off sink faucets when not using them and promptly reporting leaks.
3. Composting by putting appropriate food scraps in the compost bin or starting your own composting system.
4. Recycle all appropriate containers.
5. Clean as you go by picking up after yourself and others. Keep your station, home and community clean.
6. Reduce plastic use by using less cling wrap and other plastics.
7. Watch what you eat by making climate-friendly food choices.
8. Watch what food you order by ordering what you need and can use. Most food waste comes from production and not leftovers.
9. Watch what you serve by learning to prep, cook and serve environmentally friendly dishes.
10. Educate yourself on what environmentally friendly means. What does sustainable mean? What is sustainable seafood?
11. Educate others, such as classmates, family members, those you admire, and those who look up to you, by teaching them what you know and leading by example.
12. Get involved with climate-change organizations. Many are looking for youthful voices with opinions and thoughts.
13. Vote by either casting a ballot or with your dollars.

Adam has years of experience teaching culinary and hospitality students and also extensive experience training trainers. He has provided his baker’s dozen for instructors.

1. Remember you are far more important to your students’ lives and their mental and intellectual development than you can possibly imagine. Read these articles, "As Teachers, Always ‘On,’ All the Time" and "You–as a Culinary Instructor–are More Important than You Think"
2. Demonstrate good practices within your classroom:
   • Ban plastic water bottles
   • Don’t use plastic shopping bags or plastic bags for vegetables and fruits
   • Demonstrate by constant example the 13 points Stephanie wrote above
   • Minimize food waste
3. Arrange for reputable sources in your community or from around the nation to present either live or virtually to your class. You have the power to determine which is best for your community and your students. Here are a few recommended suggestions:
   • Monterey Bay Aquarium has a myriad of options for educators
   • Climate Reality Project specializes in giving presentations on climate change and has chapters all over the country
   • 350.org specializes in climate action and activism and is very youth-centered. They have great resources for campaigns and marches
   • Fridays for Future is Greta Thunburg’s organization that specializes in climate strikes and strike resources
   • Smithsonian is a reliable, non-controversial and unbiased source that offers virtual field trips, talks and presentations
4. Work with your school to set up composting onsite.
5. Create a garden for your culinary program. Start with herbs if space is limited and use the ingredients in your classroom kitchen.
6. Take your students on a field trip to a real farmer’s market. Check out this article, "Summertime and the Living Is Easy."
7. Invite the employees of the local power and water companies to come and talk to your classes about conserving resources and energy management. I’ll bet they have outreach people whose job it is to talk to classes like yours.
8. When I grew up in the 60s and 70s the biggest sin in my family was wasting food. Now, food waste in the United States is a very hot topic. Please take a moment to review an article I wrote for CAFE on minimizing food waste. It gives you tips and pointers on how to minimize food costs and waste in your classroom and teach your students how to do the same at home. It also has some great ideas on how to repurpose leftovers into exciting new dishes.
9. Teach basic portion control so your students minimize food waste by knowing how much food to buy and prepare.
10. Think about and teach pre-cycling. Recycling is good but there are recycling issues that are seldom addressed. For instance, many recyclable items don’t make it to a recycling center and end up in the landfill or worse yet in rivers, oceans, streets or forests. Recycling is not 100% efficient. Finally, it takes a lot of energy and water to recycle products.
    
    The better thing to do is to think BEFORE you buy something. Do you really need the product? Can you use something else instead? Can you buy in bulk and save packaging? Is there too much non-recyclable packing material? A little planning and thinking before buying saves money and the environment.
11. Teach your students about buying locally. Read these stories that lay it out for you, "Buying Local Goes Beyond a Farm’s Distance" and "The Carbon Footprint of Food."
12. If you get stymied and need ideas and suggestions beyond any of the above, contact Lisa Parrish, Gold Medal Classroom editor at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and she will put you in touch with Stephanie or Adam.
13. Teach the above points to other teachers in your school. Why? Because THE POWER IS YOURS.

Adam Weiner, JD, CFSE, has been a culinary instructor in the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 17 years.