‘Transforming Lunch Time into a Project!’: Cultivating Food Education and Interdisciplinary Skills in Primary Pupils through ‘Whole-Process Exploration of School Lunches’

Yamada Nanako  [Japan]

Abstract

Japan's ‘school lunch’ system serves not only as a measure to ensure pupils' nutritional intake but also as a pivotal arena for implementing ‘food education’. However, current food education often faces challenges of fragmentation and didacticism: nutritional knowledge is disconnected from dietary experiences, gratitude education becomes perfunctory, and understanding of the environmental, labour, and cultural connections behind food remains insufficient. To transform ‘school lunch time’ into a core for deep learning, this study designed and implemented a cross-year project-based learning initiative titled ‘Whole Process Inquiry into School Lunches’. This project organised upper primary pupils into ‘Production Teams,’ ‘Nutrition Teams,’ ‘Environmental Teams,’ and ‘Gratitude Teams.’ Operating on an academic year basis, they systematically explored the entire lifecycle of school lunches—from farm to table to waste disposal. The ‘Production Team’ traced local ingredients and experienced cultivation; the ‘Nutrition Team’ analysed menus and participated in improvements; the ‘Environmental Team’ monitored food waste and practised composting; while the ‘Gratitude Team’ interviews staff to preserve culinary traditions. Through deep integration of Home Economics, Social Studies, Science, Moral Education, and integrated learning periods, pupils engage in year-long authentic tasks. This not only builds robust scientific knowledge about food, nutrition, and the environment but also cultivates, through hands-on labour, calculations, investigations, and creative work: an attitude of food appreciation; scientific inquiry skills; community-mindedness; and sustainable development values. This paper details the project's design framework, implementation process, and evaluation system. Through action research, it demonstrates how this model effectively breaks down disciplinary barriers, elevating the everyday lunch experience into a comprehensive learning journey cultivating holistic literacy. It provides a highly operational model for deepening Japan's ‘Shokuiku’ (food education) and implementing inquiry-based curricula. Keywords: Shokuiku; Integrated Learning Period; Project-Based Learning; Life Studies; Education for Sustainable Development; Localised Learning; Japanese School Meals

Introduction

Research Context: The Need to Deepen Japan's Food Education and the Untapped Potential of School Meals

Japan enacted the Basic Act on Food Education in 2005, positioning food education as fundamental to national survival and educational foundations. As the ‘core teaching material’ for practising food education, school meals should inherently transcend mere ‘meal provision’. Yet in practice, food education curricula are often reduced to one-dimensional lectures on ‘the dangers of picky eating’ or ‘appreciating those who prepare meals,’ or relegated to occasional cooking workshops. Students' understanding of food remains fragmented: hamburgers emerge from the refrigerator, vegetables from the supermarket, lacking emotional or cognitive connections to the land, seasons, farmers, or kitchen staff's labour. Concurrently, Japanese education is vigorously advancing ‘proactive, dialogic, and deep inquiry-based learning’ to cultivate students' “生きる力” (survival skills). This necessitates education's close integration with real life and real-world issues. Thus, re-examining and redesigning ‘school lunch time’ – transforming it from a ‘consumption period’ into an ‘inquiry period’ and ‘creative period’ – emerges as a crucial breakthrough for deepening food education and implementing the new learning guidelines.

Theoretical Framework: Holistic Inquiry and Experiential Learning under ESD Principles

This project adopts ‘Education for Sustainable Development’ (ESD) as its overarching philosophy. ESD emphasises integrating environmental, social, and economic dimensions within education to cultivate future citizens' capacity for addressing complex challenges. School lunches constitute a microcosm of a sustainable development system: encompassing environmental dimensions (food production, transportation, waste management), social dimensions (local agriculture, food equity, labour value), and economic dimensions (local consumption, budget management). Conducting a ‘full-process inquiry’ into lunches fundamentally guides students to deconstruct and comprehend a sustainable development system within their immediate environment. Simultaneously, the project is deeply rooted in Dewey's theory of ‘experiential learning’ and the educational philosophy of Japan's ‘Life Studies’ curriculum. Learning must occur through authentic, meaningful, and continuous experiences. This initiative enables students to “do” food education rather than merely ‘hear’ about it – experiencing life through cultivation, understanding nutrition through calculation, witnessing cycles through composting, and appreciating gratitude through interviews. Knowledge, skills, and attitudes are organically integrated and internalised through coherent experiences.

Research Objectives and Innovation

This study aims to construct and implement a ‘Campus Lunch Full Process Inquiry’ project model, evaluating its educational efficacy. Specific objectives are:

1. Curriculum Integration: Develop a long-term project framework centred on school meals, deeply integrating multidisciplinary content and lesson time.

2. Competency Development: Examine the project's role in cultivating students' ‘food education competencies,’ ‘inquiry capabilities,’ ‘social skills,’ and ‘sustainable development perspectives.’

3. Cultural Heritage:

Investigate how the project deepens students' understanding of local food culture and the spirit embodied in ‘Itadakimasu.’

The project's innovation lies in: Firstly, its systematic approach, integrating isolated food education activities into an interconnected inquiry system covering the entire food lifecycle; Second, authenticity: all investigations centre on real school lunches, using genuine data where outcomes inform and enhance school catering practices; Third, role-based collaboration: simulating societal cooperation through the ‘Four Teams’ division of labour, enabling each pupil to find unique contributions within the collective.

Innovative Project Design: ‘Whole-Process Inquiry into School Lunches’

1. Overall Planning and Organisational Structure

· Implementation Years: Year 4 (launch year) to Year 6 (deepening year) of primary school, forming a three-year inquiry cycle.

· Core Question: ‘Where does our daily school lunch come from? How is it composed? Where does it go after consumption? How can we make this lunch more meaningful?’

· ‘Four Teams’ Organisation: Pupils in each class are divided into four fixed teams based on interests, undertaking distinct yet interconnected inquiry tasks throughout the academic year. Each team appoints a leader and holds regular ‘School Lunch Project Progress Meetings’.

· Timetable: Utilises 1-2 periods weekly during Integrated Studies, Home Economics, and Ethics lessons, supplemented by brief morning assembly and lunchtime sharing sessions.

2. Detailed Task Plans for Each Squad and Cross-Curricular Content

Production Squad: Tracing ‘Gifts from the Earth’

· Research Task: Select one primary seasonal local ingredient used in school meals (e.g., Kyoto's Kujo green onions, Shogoin turnips) and trace its journey from farm to school.

·Primary Activities:

① ‘Ingredient Journal’ Creation: Record the monthly frequency and dishes featuring this ingredient in school meals.

② Farm Visits and Agricultural Experiences: Coordinate with local JA (Agricultural Cooperative) or contracted farmers to organise visits. Understand cultivation processes and challenges (e.g., weather, pests), and participate in simple tasks like sowing, thinning seedlings, or harvesting.

③ ‘Food Mileage’ Calculation: Learn to calculate the average distance travelled by ingredients from farm to school, compare with imported alternatives (e.g., Chinese spring onions), and understand the environmental significance of local production for local consumption.

④ Campus Mini-Farm:

Allocate a small plot within the school grounds to cultivate the same crop, experiencing firsthand the joys and challenges of cultivation.

· Interdisciplinary Integration:

Social Studies (regional industries), Science (plant growth), Arithmetic (distance calculation).

Nutrition Squad: Decoding ‘Body Fuel’

Investigation Task: Conduct an in-depth analysis of the nutritional composition of school lunches and propose scientifically grounded improvement suggestions.

· Key Activities:

1. Nutritionist Internship: Invite the school nutritionist to explain menu planning principles (nutritional balance, cost control, culinary feasibility).

2. Menu Analysis: Utilise simplified food composition tables or software to analyse weekly menu values for calories, protein, vitamins, etc., assessing suitability for school-age children.

3. Salt Reduction Challenge: Addressing Japan's high dietary salt intake, groups research natural flavour enhancers (spices, citrus juices, stocks) to reduce salt usage while maintaining palatability. Conduct taste comparison experiments.

4. Designing ‘Our Recommended Dish’: Each term, the Nutrition Team may propose a new dish. Following review by nutritionists and chefs, it may be incorporated into the actual school lunch menu. Submissions must include a complete recipe, nutritional calculations, and rationale for recommendation.

· Integrated Subjects: Home Economics (Nutrition & Cooking), Science (Human Body & Health), Arithmetic (Data Calculation).

Environmental Team: Practising ‘The Wisdom of Circulation’

• Investigation Task: Monitor and reduce the environmental impact of school meals while practising resource circulation.

• Key Activities:

1. Food Waste Diary: Daily measurement and recording of class food waste weight (fresh waste, milk cartons, etc.), creating monthly trend charts.

2. Waste Sorting and Recycling Research: Conduct in-depth studies on proper sorting methods for school meal-related waste (e.g., cleaning and recycling milk cartons), creating posters to educate the entire school.

3. Composting System Establishment and Maintenance: Under science teacher guidance, establish small compost bins on campus. Mix selected fresh food waste with dry leaves, learning about carbon-nitrogen ratios and turning techniques while observing organic matter decomposing into fertiliser.

4. Zero-Waste Awareness Campaign: Launch initiatives like the ‘Finish Your Plate Campaign’ and ‘Portion Control Initiative’ based on data, calculating resource savings and carbon emissions reductions achieved through waste minimisation and recycling.

·Interdisciplinary Integration: Science (material cycles, ecosystems), Social Studies (public environmental issues), Ethics (respect for life and resources).

Gratitude Squad: Weaving ‘Human Warmth’

· Inquiry Task: Focus on the people and emotions behind school meals, preserving culinary traditions.

· Key Activities:

1. ‘A Day at the School Meal Centre’ Documentary: With permission, interview canteen staff, documenting their early-morning meal preparation, cooking, and delivery efforts. Produce a short film for school-wide screening.

2. Exploring the Origins of ‘Itadakimasu’: Research the cultural and philosophical significance of this pre-meal expression (receiving life, gratitude towards nature and labour). Interview grandparents to understand past dietary practices and expressions of gratitude.

3. Learning and Promoting Lunch Etiquette: Study and practise proper Japanese table manners, reflecting on the underlying respect and consideration. Demonstrate and explain these to younger students.

4. Planning and Implementation of the ‘Gratitude Festival’: At the end of each term, organise a gratitude event such as presenting handwritten thank-you letters and homemade treats to canteen staff, or holding a small presentation session to share each team's findings and express appreciation.

· Interdisciplinary Integration: Moral Education (gratitude, respect, care), Chinese Language (interviewing, writing, presentation), Art (poster and short film production).

3. Year-long Collaborative Activities and Outcomes Display

• Monthly Briefings: Teams share monthly discoveries via concise reports, charts, and physical displays during class or whole-school assemblies.

• ‘School Meal Research Portfolio’: Each pupil/team maintains a year-long record of research, data, photographs, creations, and reflections.

·End-of-Year ‘School Lunch Exhibition’: Open to parents and the community, with four teams setting up booths to comprehensively showcase research outcomes:

Production Team: Displayed origin maps and self-grown crops

Nutrition Team: Presented recipe analyses and model recommended dishes

Environmental Team: Exhibited waste data charts and composting results

Gratitude Team: Screened documentaries and displayed thank-you letters

Students served as guides.

Teaching Practice and Effectiveness Analysis

Research Implementation

This two-year longitudinal study was conducted among Year 4 and 5 pupils (four classes, 120 students) at a primary school in Kyoto. Employing a mixed-methods approach, data sources included: pupils' inquiry portfolios, monthly team reports, pre- and post-intervention food education knowledge and attitude questionnaires, teacher observation logs, parent feedback surveys, and interviews with canteen staff.

Core Findings

1. Fundamental shift in “food perspectives”. Students transitioned from being ‘consumers of food’ to ‘understanders and participants in the food system.’ They began paying attention to ingredient origin labels and discussing the benefits of seasonality and local production. One pupil wrote: ‘Before, I'd secretly discard carrots I didn't like. Now, thinking they might have been painstakingly grown by local farmers and carefully selected by the school nutritionist, I feel I must finish them properly.’

2. Significant Enhancement in Interdisciplinary Skills and Inquiry Competence. Driven by real-world problems, pupils independently applied diverse skills including measurement, recording, calculation, investigation, experimentation, and interviewing. For instance, the Environmental Team learned to create persuasive data visualisations to convince peers to reduce waste, while the Production Team mastered map reading and scale calculations to measure food miles. Knowledge ceased to be isolated subject points, instead forming an interconnected network as they unravelled the ‘mystery of school meals.’

3. Deep internalisation of social-emotional learning and values. ‘Gratitude’ transcended mere slogans. Through interviews, students witnessed staff members' frostbitten hands and early-morning toil firsthand, rendering appreciation tangible and profound. Composting provided an intuitive understanding of transforming “waste” into ‘resources,’ embedding sustainable development principles. Classrooms and the school fostered a positive culture valuing food and mutual appreciation.

4. Fostering school-community relations. The project forged close ties between the school, local farmers, JA, and environmental organisations. Students' research outcomes—such as recommendations for promoting local ingredients and schemes to reduce food waste—garnered significant attention and acclaim from community stakeholders, positioning the school as an active node in community sustainability.

Discussion and Reflection

Key to Success: Routine and Long-Term Commitment

The project's greatest strength lies in its grounding in ‘daily life.’ The daily act of school meals became the focal point for sustained inquiry throughout the year. This immersive, long-term learning approach subtly reshapes students' perceptions, habits, and emotions more effectively than any one-off event. It integrates learning into daily existence and makes life itself a source of learning.

Challenges and Responses: Coordination and Deepening

Substantial organisational coordination: Involving external liaisons, scheduling, safety protocols, etc. The solution was establishing a core project team comprising subject teachers, nutritionists, and the academic director, with clear division of responsibilities and full utilisation of parental and community volunteer resources.

· Balancing inquiry depth: Primary pupils have limited capacities; inquiry must avoid excessive specialisation or complexity. Teachers must effectively act as “scaffolders”, breaking down large tasks into manageable steps, providing appropriate research tools and templates, and prioritising experiential learning and grasping core concepts over academic precision.

· Holistic Assessment: Difficult to evaluate through traditional paper-and-pencil tests. A combined approach of “portfolio assessment” and “performance-based assessment” is employed, focusing on process-based participation, collaborative efforts, the innovation and presentation quality of final outcomes, and the depth of reflection.

Implications for Japan's “Survivability” Education and Food Education Development

The “Whole Process Inquiry into School Lunches” project exemplifies the “autonomous, dialogic, and deep learning” advocated by Japan's new curriculum reform. It demonstrates that core competencies can be cultivated through profoundly empowering everyday life. It offers a comprehensive framework for elevating Japan's food education from isolated points (nutritional knowledge) to interconnected threads (dietary behaviours) and ultimately to a holistic fabric (food systems perspective and cultural understanding). When pupils translate gratitude into action through their own investigations, transform waste into fertiliser, and convert ideas into recipes, the “生きる力” (life skills) they acquire is both tangible and profoundly impactful.

Conclusion

‘Transforming Lunch into a Project!’ is not merely an educational initiative; it represents a quiet revolution in reshaping the educational fabric of everyday school life. By transforming the ordinary lunch period into a comprehensive platform for inquiry that integrates science, society, the environment and emotional development, we have successfully enabled pupils to learn critical thinking, empathy, collaboration and creativity through the most fundamental act of eating. What they consume is no longer merely sustenance, but an understanding of nature, respect for labour, connection to community, and responsibility for the future. This educational model—rooted in daily life, bridging disciplines, and oriented towards sustainability—offers a vibrant Japanese solution for how primary education in Japan and globally can cultivate responsible future citizens.

References

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[2]. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (2005). Basic Act on Food Education. Cabinet Office.

[3]. Fujiwara, T., & Nakamura, T. (2018). Designing Inquiry-Based Learning: Creating Lessons that Cultivate Qualities and Abilities. Meiji Tosho.

[4]. Hattori, K. (2015). Comprehensive Guide to Food Education. Kodansha.

[5]. UNESCO Schools (2022). ESD Activity Case Studies: Primary School Edition. Japanese National Commission for UNESCO.

[6]. Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. Kappa Delta Pi.

[7]. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (2021). Guide to Local Production for Local Consumption and Food Education.

[8]. Kyoto Prefectural Board of Education (2020). Kyoto Food Education Materials: Considering the Importance of Eating with Children.