A national human ecology curriculum that begins with food education could help address our most pressing crises—from climate change to inequality—by teaching students how to live well and care for one another.
Overconsumption and consumerism have thrown up new social, environmental, and economic challenges. There is an urgent need to course-correct by changing how we use our limited resources. One important step would be to teach children the importance of mindful living by grounding their education in the fundamentals of human ecology.
A national human ecology curriculum that focuses on food education could play a crucial role in addressing pressing issues, from climate change to inequality, by teaching students how to care for themselves and others while being aware of how their actions impact the planet and nonhuman species.
“The problems that today’s college-going generation will face in the future are enormous… Climate change, fossil-fuel constraints, rotting infrastructure, collapsing ecosystems, and resource scarcities all loom large. Meeting those challenges will require both abstract and practical knowledge,” stated the Chronicle of Higher Education 2012 article.
Food education is critical to navigate this changing landscape. “It’s time to situate the food crisis within childhood education, not only to help young people better understand where their food comes from, but to build the leaders the 21st century’s food system will so desperately need,” stated the charity Sustainable Food Trust.
The act of sharing a meal brings happiness and is crucial in fostering a sense of community and trust, which is essential for overcoming the challenges human beings face today. According to a 2017 study by the University of Oxford, communal meals foster a sense of connection and well-being and help people feel more rooted in a community setting.
The 2025 World Happiness Report highlights that the act of sharing a meal is one of the strongest predictors of “well-being.” “The report finds that people in countries with high rates of meal sharing also declare stronger social support and lower levels of loneliness, suggesting that the decline in communal meals in more industrialized societies is more than a lifestyle shift; it’s a public health concern,” states a 2025 article in National Geographic.
Social meals activate the brain’s endorphin pathways, which are associated with oxytocin and dopamine—neurochemicals that foster bonding, pleasure, and trust, according to a 2017 study published in the journal Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology. This biological response makes communal eating a particularly effective way to gain trust and confidence, which can take place at home and school.
Further, a 2017 study in the Journal of Consumer Psychology revealed that sharing the same food—not just eating together—enhances trust and cooperation. Sharing the same meal means people are more likely to cooperate with and trust each other, even in business or negotiation contexts. This is especially pronounced when people lack prior relationships in our transitory world, making food a unique tool for building basic trust across political and cultural divisions. This effect is more substantial than with other forms of similarity, such as wearing clothes of the same color. In essence, communal eating leverages cultural rituals, psychological comfort, and physical health to create a trusting environment, even among strangers.
Over the years, the United States has evolved from a country that fought to defend human life and welfare to one where capitalism has become the guiding principle shaping every aspect of life.
This has resulted in a loss of things that matter: family, how to eat and live to ensure a healthy life, and the importance of building community.
“One in four Americans now eats every meal alone, a 53 percent increase since 2003,” stated the National Geographic, pointing out how dire the situation has become “[i]n more recent decades, the digital revolution—coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic—has accelerated this fragmentation, with meals increasingly relegated to a fleeting necessity between Zoom calls, desk work, and social media.”
There is an urgent need to teach children to sustain life as part of their educational curriculum, if we want to reform how we live and create a future based on nurturing young minds and bodies so they have the tools to make better choices.
To take corrective steps, we need to change the current reactive practice of waiting for social problems to develop and then rushing to the rescue. A 21st-century transformation begins with the adoption of a human ecology program in every public school and reorienting human values and care in this highly capitalist society. The transformation needed to counteract the current culture will take the length of mandatory education, beginning with the study of food.
Learning about food is more than just nutrition or sustenance—it’s about how personal food sovereignty helps reweave the social fabric, and how “nested” skills (advanced skills that build upon foundational ones) play a role in strengthening human capital. By prioritizing food education and food-centered community initiatives, we can mend social trust, strengthen community bonds, and lay the groundwork for a more connected and resilient future.
Teaching about food empowers students with practical skills that life demands, such as knowing how to cook and maintaining a safe and healthy lifestyle. This became a live lesson for me when I chaired the Consumer Arts and Science Department at City College of San Francisco and saw our community college students bloom in the food classes. They began to realize that they would be alright, no matter what, and that they could take care of themselves and help others. Their confidence and control over food security freed them to think further ahead and plan their lives.
In fact, one of my former students, a combat veteran who joined our program, loved the life that learning to cook gave him so much that he eventually opened up a restaurant in Napa Valley.
By addressing food insecurity through education and promoting food literacy, communities can challenge systemic inequalities and create a more resilient and inclusive society. That is precisely what happens in a school food lab in real time, where small groups of students are taught to make a dish to be shared with everyone else. Food education fosters a deeper understanding of finite community and national resources, climate change, economics, and even politics, in a meaningful human way.
Speaking on Oregon State University’s “The Farm to School Podcast,” in November 2024, Emelia Miguel of Food Lab, from Pacific Elementary in Davenport, California, said, “[T]hese kids really learn such incredible skills, like those soft skills, like leadership and teamwork. And empowerment in the kitchen. And obviously, they learn their kitchen skills. But I think that it really is a well-rounded education that we give them and… they’re working on their math skills, their English language, [and] arts skills. It all comes together in that kitchen in such a real way. And I really think it's so valuable that more schools really need to do this.”
Students are also challenged at an ethical and moral level as they consider who has enough food and who does not, and the reasons for this on the local and global scale. Food education, within a human ecology program, frames a human-centered mindset for decision-making throughout life.
Although food is foundational to all societies, few U.S. schools offer a food class in a dedicated food lab. As students transition to college, many lack food knowledge and practical skills, as they may have been accustomed to being served at home or in restaurants.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office found that in 2020, 3.8 million college students faced food insecurity. Based on the 2024 GAO report, the Food Research and Action Center said that “Food insecurity is more prevalent among students with the following characteristics: had a disability, were 24 years old or older, single parent, or were financially independent from their parents.” This not only affects the academic performance of college students but also their overall physical and mental health.
Public schools need to integrate a formal human ecology educational program into the K-12 curriculum, alongside the other equally core education subjects. Ideally, they should extend the age range to community colleges, where delayed maturity is making independent living and food security a significant challenge.
Food education is not a one-time starter lesson focused on learning to cook, but a continuous thread that spans from elementary grades to graduation and college. Teaching an age-appropriate foods course involves both lecture and lab components. It follows Bloom’s Taxonomy, the standard educational program planning sequence:
Each level progresses in complexity as students mature and their world broadens. Every school district’s program can be designed to reflect the local culture (rural or urban), climate, community size, and available resources. The universal adoption of human ecology, meanwhile, will ensure that human life values become commonly held; the lessons inform future voters about human needs and sharing, and by doing so, they create a national cohesion that celebrates and protects life.
Beyond having a meal together in class, the big picture is not looking rosy, and students need to be prepared for future realities. Global threats are likely to reduce dependency on imports and inflation, necessitating new strategies to grow more food locally and independently. This will also require developing new traditions when popular foods become scarce due to climate change, rising costs, or vanishing supply lines.
With the climate crisis worsening, global warming will have devastating effects on crop yields and quality while also leading to the drying up of water supplies and degradation of supporting ecosystems.
Massive “heat domes,” such as the one we experienced in the U.S. in the summer of 2025, will continue to put more pressure on food prices and choices. Food education could encourage more young scientists to work on this problem.
Local schools can play their part by working toward preventing future food insecurity and increasing quality of life, by teaching their students how to prepare their food, imparting the knowledge of human nutritional needs throughout the different phases of life, along with an understanding of preserving and storing food to ensure local families will have enough each season and during emergencies.
While this deep dive into the importance of teaching food to prevent social decline focuses on food itself, there are other critical basic components of a comprehensive human ecology program, like reducing homelessness. Educational leaders and policymakers must recognize that the study of food is not a niche subject; it is a vital academic area of study, a complete human ecology program for our time, encompassing all aspects of life.
Beyond the lessons on physical survival, students also need to learn the “soft” side of human ecology, which includes the psycho-social aspects of “fitting in,” becoming socialized, etiquette, professionalism, and discovering their path or passion. Through human ecology, students begin to realize that communal interest is, in reality, self-interest: a win-win.
The need for a mandatory, universal human ecology program is undeniable. The need to educate future decision-makers about the fundamental basics of human life is critical. Human ecology should be at the heart of our educational vision and the core of every child’s education. “As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.”
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