In June 2022, we began a 4-year partnership with Health Canada to create bilingual food safety resources for school-aged children across Canada.
The project began with a literature review and gap analysis to better understand the current landscape of food safety education. This process identified a clear need for more accessible, classroom-ready resources for elementary learners, as well as additional supports for educators teaching food safety concepts.
Based on these findings, our work focused on creating resources for learners in grades 4–6, when students begin to explore related topics such as microorganisms, pathogens, and foodborne illness through science and health education.
To ensure these resources were practical and usable for teachers, we connected with educators from across Canada through a series of consultation sessions. These sessions highlighted the importance of creating materials that are engaging, hands-on, cross-curricular, and adaptable to different classroom contexts.
Together, we developed three resource kits: Food Safety, Microorganisms, and Food Safety on the Go. Each of these kits includes an Educator Guide to help educators implement the materials effectively in their classrooms.
The resources were then tested through a bilingual pilot program, which included pilot events in English and French, educators check-ins, and feedback sessions. These sessions gave us important insights that we used to strengthen and refine the materials.
“The Learning Bird team has been an incredible partner in helping us create resources that reflect our community and support our unique dialect of Oji-Cree. They provided invaluable guidance in developing our holistic Oji-Cree language and culture curriculum. Our team of Knowledge Keepers, Elders, and educators really enjoyed working together to develop the curriculum. This process brought our education team closer together, and the curriculum will provide our students with relevant culture and language programming.”
Mary Gardiner, Principal
Simon Jacob Memorial Education Centre
