From the Humanities & Social Sciences Coordinator

Year 9 Future Food Workshop: Exploring Sustainable Food Futures

As part of the Year 9 Geography curriculum, all Year 9 students recently participated in the “Future Food Workshop,” a hands-on learning experience designed to explore key topics such as sustainability, environmental management, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures. The workshop aimed to challenge students’ thinking by presenting scenario-based activities focused on the future of food production and consumption.

Throughout the day, students engaged in three key themes: How can we feed a growing global population? How should we rethink the value of food when resources are scarce? What creative food solutions could help us respond to the challenges of climate change?

The workshop covered emerging food technologies, the environmental impact of food production (including its water footprint), the role of climate change on food systems, and traditional First Nations food knowledge. Students also had the opportunity to explore edible insects as a sustainable food source and reflect on the future of our food systems.

Food tastings were a highlight, offering students a chance to try kangaroo mettwurst, chickpeas, freeze-dried ice cream, and even crickets and mealworms! These tastings, along with interactive group activities such as creating their own “2050 future scenarios” and building burgers of the future, sparked many interesting discussions. 

Here’s what some of our Year 9 students had to say about the experience:

“I enjoyed tasting bugs for the first time (even though they didn’t taste good), and experimenting with building a burger on the tablet, or extinct animal meals, and 3d printing meals.” June Ryu

“Learning about how much water it takes to produce some very popular foods was really interesting.” Poppy Watts

“I quite enjoyed both the ‘create your own 2050’ activity and the burger-making activities.” Naisha Raj

“My favourite part was trying foods of the ‘future’ and learning about 3D food printing technology.” Annie Wu

“Eating bugs was a new experience for me, and I liked seeing how they could be disguised to make them more appealing.” Lily Reynolds

The Future Food Workshop offered a fun and thought-provoking way to think about how food might evolve in the future. We hope it has inspired our students to consider their role in building a more sustainable and resilient food system for future generations.

Ms Elizabeth Heuzenroeder
Humanities & Social Sciences Coordinator

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