THE THIRD ECO PATROL WORKSHOP NAMED: “FOOD AND SUSTAINABILITY” WAS HELD.
On Saturday, February 10, 2024, the third workshop of Argonaut’s Eco Patrol, entitled “Food and Sustainability”, was held. This module encourages children to think globally and act locally on the topic of food and sustainability. “Do strawberries from Spain or those from Vrgorac have a bigger ecological footprint? Which are cheaper? If discarded food were a country, what land area would it occupy? Who survived and who was eaten by intruders and what is hidden behind the formula 2 +3 = 5?” These are just some of the questions we received answers to.
The goal of the first activity “It stinks – it stinks terribly” is to notice the illogicalities related to food and sustainability, to encourage thinking about the domino effect and the long-term consequences of a certain event. The students had a task in the classroom to find hidden cards with illogicalities about food. After finding the cards, they concluded why the activity is called “Smells – stinks terribly”. Based on the illogicality of the story about strawberries from Spain and Vrgorac, they proposed possible solutions to help domestic farmers: sale of domestic products through stands, reduced export to retail chains, advertising of domestic products on TV and social networks, encouraging citizens to buy domestic products. Although they were shocked by the price differences, they believe that the market can be improved if all their ideas are accepted, and they themselves say that they will do their best to be a small wheel in promoting local products. Also, they were shocked when they learned that 1.3 million tons of food is thrown away every year and that the discarded food would occupy the surface of China. During the implementation of this activity, students developed sensitivity and empathy towards the subjects of the story, adopted a positive but critical attitude towards the use of real information and saw the possibility of their own positive action in solving it.
The “Helium Rod” activity arouses curiosity and willingness to find solutions, encourages teamwork and sharing ideas and respecting other people’s opinions. After the participants were divided into groups, they had to lower a 2 m stick by holding it with two fingers, then one finger, then one toe and a raised leg. Although it took them several times to achieve their goal, they really liked the activity and thanks to teamwork, they were able to put down the stick without any problems.
The “Mission Impossible” activity develops curiosity about the food we buy, encourages critical thinking about the origin of purchased food, and develops a positive attitude towards seasonal and locally sourced food. The game is designed in 4 tasks that were given to all groups. It is important that they divide the tasks correctly within the group in order to make the impossible mission possible. In the first task, they had to take one grocery item out of a bag, find on the Internet how many kilometers it took to get to Croatia and place it on a tape on the floor with kilometers written on it. In this task, they realized how many people from all over the world are involved in order for us to eat our breakfast today, how much food we eat today comes from different parts of the world and how many kilometers some foods have to travel to reach our plates.
In the second task, they were given a calendar of seasonal fruits and vegetables, and based on the calendar they had to design a menu for one season. This task encourages them to consume seasonal food and thus eat better and reduce their ecological footprint.
In the third task, they had to come up with a slogan to promote local strawberries to customers. Some of the slogans were: “Maybe it’s cheaper, but it’s not healthier”, “I like domestic farming”, “Be cool, eat Croatian, domestic”. With this task, they saw the importance of marketing and how it can be positive as well as negative.
In the fourth task, they had to complete a crossword puzzle, which they did successfully by cooperating with other groups. As a final solution, they received “You are what you eat”, which helped them in the next activity.
The activity “Day-night in the garden” simulates the game “Day-night” in such a way that each student is given a card of the garden with the concepts of various fruits and vegetables. After they are told about the pest that is attacking the fruits/vegetables in their garden, they should crouch down. They quickly concluded what the goal of the game was and that the best garden would be the one where diversity predominates and that is the only way they could survive. The goal of this activity is to develop interest and curiosity about agriculture and current events related to monoculture and its consequences. They perfected the abilities of quick assessment and reaction and developed the abilities of logical reasoning.
And how it was for us, look through the photos!
Follow us until the next workshop when we will carry out an afforestation campaign in our local community!
The project holder is the Association for the Protection of Nature and the Environment and the Promotion of Sustainable Development Argonaut, and the project partners are the Municipality of Murter-Kornati, JU NP Kornati, Kindergarten Spužvica Tisno, Center for Education Šubićevac, Aurora Association, Veterinary Faculty of the University of Zagreb and Elementary school Vodice. The project is co-financed by the Ministry of Science and Education.
