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Where does our food come from?
A discussion-led activity in which students trace the origins of common foods and weigh up "food miles" — while learning that distance is only one part of a food's environmental footprint. An open-ended enquiry, not a right-answer quiz.
Learning objectives
By the end of the activity, students can:
- Trace where a range of everyday foods are grown or made.
- Explain what "food miles" means and why it matters.
- Recognise that transport is only one factor — how food is grown, stored and wasted often matters more.
- Form and justify a view on food choices, acknowledging trade-offs.
The activity
- Starter (10 min): list foods from a typical lunch on the board and ask where each came from. Introduce "food miles" as the distance food travels from farm to plate.
- Task (25 min): students complete the origins table (using packaging, an atlas or classroom research) and the discussion questions.
- Discussion (20 min): draw out the complication — a tomato grown locally in a heated greenhouse can have a bigger footprint than one shipped from a sunny country; seasonality, method and food waste all count.
The worksheet
This prints as a clean sheet — press print and the site header, footer and this instruction row drop away. Photocopy for a class as needed.
For several foods you ate recently, work out roughly where each came from and how far it might have travelled. Use packaging labels, an atlas or the internet.
| Food | Where it came from | Roughly how far? | How is it usually grown/made? |
|---|---|---|---|
1. Which of your foods travelled furthest? Which was most local?
2. Why might a locally grown food sometimes have a bigger environmental footprint than an imported one?
3. Besides distance, name two other things that affect a food's footprint.
4. Having thought it through, what is one small change you think is worth making — and one you think is not worth the fuss? Justify both.
Answer key
- This is a discussion activity with no single right answer. Strong responses recognise that food miles matter but are only part of the picture: growing method (e.g. heated greenhouses), seasonality, refrigeration, packaging and especially food waste can outweigh transport distance. Reward reasoning and evidence over a particular conclusion.
Teacher notes
- Keep it genuinely open. The honest science is that "local always wins" is too simple — resist steering the class to a slogan, and reward students who hold the trade-offs in mind.
- Food waste is often the single biggest lever and is worth surfacing; a wasted local food can be worse than an eaten imported one.
- Cross-links to geography (trade, climate), science (agriculture) and citizenship (individual versus systemic change).
A teaching resource, not medical or dietary advice. Handle food, sleep, sugar and energy topics sensitively with young people, and follow your school's pastoral and safeguarding procedures if a pupil raises a concern.
Frequently asked questions
What level is this for?
Suits lower-secondary geography, science or citizenship.
Can I print and photocopy it?
Yes — press print (Ctrl+P / Cmd+P) and the site chrome disappears, leaving the worksheet. It is free for classroom use.
Is there an answer key?
Yes, at the foot of this page. Decide whether to project, hide or hand it out.
Source: Standard public guidance (EFSA reference values, EU labelling rules, Atwater energy factors) and simple arithmetic · checked 2026-09-02
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