My first thought after watching the films on Lunch Love Community? God, a flaming Cheeto must smell epically disgusting. My second thought was that this was the exact kind of work my fiancée used to do as a gardening and nutrition teacher at an elementary school inSalmon Creek,CA. The importance of hands-on education is hugely important in terms of health education. You can tell a kid the benefits of proper nutrition until the cows come home, but until you get that child to actively participate in the preparation of his foods, they’re never going to make the real distinction between a Big Mac and a homegrown salad.
The premise I find most intriguing about Lunch Love Community though is this idea of using a multimedia platform not to educate your target audience, but rather to help others learn how to spread those educational lessons. Again, you’re not going to get a 6th grader inMississippi to sit down and watch any of these videos, but you can inspire his teacher to utilize them in their own teachings. Educate the educators. Inspire the inspirers. I like this idea of using a site as a pivot point to expand from – using the internet as a spring board rather than a place of isolation.
Adam,
I totally agree with you about the value of hands-on learning. The videos that the Lunch Love Community created will serve as a “spring board”, like you stated, for meaningful change in education. Teachers are always looking for new ideas, but mostly ideas that others have proven to be successful. When a website is a collaborative collection of resources, teachers are more likely to use what they find on it.
Yes. I thought the educators, parents and food producers interviewed for the project also expressed similar ideas–that one thing can’t make kids eat healthier, but that feedback loops within a larger community can have ripple effects that are sometimes hard to measure. I think targeting the correct audience is just as important as finding a large one.
Your perspective on “educate the educators” and “inspire the inspirers” encapsulates the essence of using multimedia platforms for broader impact. It’s a powerful strategy to create a ripple effect, where the influence extends far beyond the initial viewership, reaching individuals who play pivotal roles in shaping the learning experiences of others. Thanks