SCHOOL OF FOOD: From Afternoon Snacks to Global Food Issues—A Food Education Project for Children

Communication Design Department

　　　

"I never gave any thought about being able to eat meals every day—until now."

This struck a 10-year-old girl when she took part in the lesson. She learned how children in developing countries, who often lack consistent access to daily meals, gain opportunities for education through school meal programmes.

As part of a new initiative, Nagase Viita launched a new project called the SCHOOL OF FOOD. This project is designed for children to explore everyday questions about food through understanding, experiencing, tasting, and engaging in enjoyable, multi-faceted learning.

The first session of the SCHOOL OF FOOD took place in November 2024 as part of the Nagase Viita Festival, an event open to local residents and the families of employees. It featured four lessons and four experiential booths, made possible with the support of four collaboration partners.

Connecting: Japan Association for the World Food Programme (JAWFP) (Lesson/Experiential Booth managed by Nagase Viita)

Nagase Viita is committed to ensuring Stable Food Security, one of its key materiality goals, by supporting school meal programmes through the WFP. In a 15-minute lesson led by Nagase Viita employees, participants explored the theme "I Want to Go to School Because I Want to Eat School Meals! Why?" At the booth, participants engaged in a panel quiz to identify school meals from around the world, learning how each country's agricultural/marine products and local lifestyles are reflected in their school meal menus. Information on world school meals was provided with the support of the JAWFP.

　　

Nurturing: CACAO HUNTERS JAPAN

CACAO HUNTERS JAPAN, a collaboration partner that uses our trehalose in their baked goods and gelato, led the lesson. Their theme was "How is Chocolate Made?" and participants learned where cacao beans are grown and how they are processed into chocolate, all while tasting samples. At the experiential booth, attendees tried a game where they filled a scoop with real cacao beans to guess the weight required for a single chocolate bar, as they experienced the aroma and texture of cacao firsthand.

Eating: OMOYA 545

The instructor was from OMOYA 545, a workshop and café specializing in allergen-free sweets. In a lesson--entitled "What Sweets Can Everyone Enjoy Together?"--participants learned how understanding allergens enables everyone to safely share the same foods. At the experiential booth, attendees played a game where they threw balls at targets labeled with allergens like egg, wheat, and shrimp to learn about different allergen types.

　　

Hauling: OkaSyo

Okasyo Co., Ltd., a comprehensive logistics company based in Okayama focused on the future of logistics nationwide, held a lesson entitled "How is Food Transported?" The participants learned about logistics systems—such as truck transportation—through engaging quizzes. The experiential booth featured a real-life large truck used to transport food and goods! Children climbed the steps to sit in the driver’s seat, thrilled to hold the steering wheel. Many couldn’t hide their excitement, and attendees took home instant photo prints of their experience as souvenirs.

　　　

Attendance of the lessons was by reservation only, with 20 participants each (elementary school students and younger). The experiential booths were open to all ages, and the event saw approximately 200 attendees in total. Many children returned repeatedly to the experiential booths, drawn by the fun quizzes and excitement of getting in the truck.
Moving forward, we will continue our activities connected to the future of children, collaborating with diverse stakeholders to create meaningful experiences.

　　　

◇ Check out the websites of our collaboration partners:
- UN World Food Programme (WFP)
- CACAO HUNTERS JAPAN
- OMOYA 545 (Japanese only)
- Okasyo Co., Ltd. (Japanese only)