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Rockliff, Mara. Get Real: What Kind of World are YOU Buying? Philadelphia, PA: Running Press Kids, 2010. Age Range: 10 and up Publisher's Description: Rockliff outlines how mass consumerism is harming our planet, and specifically how teens can use their purchasing power to enact change. She cites examples of products that teens use frequently (high-tech electronics, clothing, junk food, etc.) and explains how their production often harms the people who make them, the environment, and, potentially, the end consumer. She explains that a chocolate bar was most likely made with cacao beans harvested by exploited workers, and that a cell phone contains enough heavy metals to seriously harm our groundwater. She covers (un)fair labor practices, environmental pillaging, factory farming, excessive marketing, local vs. corporate stores, and the pervasive throwaway mentality that drives the whole cycle. The author's in-your-face approach makes her points while still engaging readers-she is never didactic or overbearing. She encourages teens to make a difference in their world by making small changes to things they do already-buying fair-trade chocolate or saving up for an organic cotton T-shirt. The pop-art illustrations are clever and illustrative of many points. The impressive bibliography provides lists of documentaries, websites, books, articles, and other sources to help teens find out how their favorite products came to be (and came to be so cheap). Learning more about how these products are made just might make some teens think twice about their buying habits.

In a world of rapidly evolving agricultural technologies, two billion people, including a large number of farmers, remain malnourished - and an increasing proportion of those farmers are women. Misaligned incentives focused on quantity instead of content create significant harm to global health, wellness, and the environment. But it doesn't have to be this way. Increasingly, people are looking at nutrients as the core deliverable and designing direct nutrient interventions in ecosystems, farming, food production and wellness. "Nutrients for All" explores the steps we can all take to realize that future and the benefits if we do so.

Why do a billion people still live in poverty worldwide, and what can be done to change this? The series Why Poverty? uses documentary film to get people talking about this critical problem, its causes, and its solutions. These eight films are co-productions of ITVS and STEPS International, and are part of a global cross-media project aimed at raising awareness of poverty in America and around the world.

This requires comprehensive efforts to ensure that every man, woman and child enjoy their Right to Adequate Food; women are empowered; priority is given to family farming, and food systems everywhere are sustainable and resilient. The challenge of Zero Hunger means: 1. 100% access to adequate food all year round 2. Zero stunted children less than 2 years 3. All food systems are sustainable 4. 100% increase in smallholder productivity and income 5. Zero loss or waste of food

Children and their families around the world face various barriers to fulfilling their rights - particularly in resource-limited settings. UNICEF and its partners work to overcome these challenges. Through this website, we encourage dialogue and co-development to support the successful delivery of end-user driven and innovative services, products and systems.

The Food Access Research Atlas: Presents a spatial overview of food access indicators for low-income and other census tracts using different measures of supermarket accessibility; Provides food access data for populations within census tracts; and Offers census-tract-level data on food access that can be downloaded for community planning or research purposes. What can you do with the Atlas? Create maps showing food access indicators by census tract using different measures and indicators of supermarket accessibility; View indicators of food access for selected subpopulations; and Download census-tract-level data on food access measures.

Dairy Council of California. "Healthy Eating Made Easier." Accessed March 25, 2013. http://healthyeating.org/ Grade Level: 1 and up Description: They promote the many benefits and uses of milk and milk products, and their programs focus on making the best choices from all the food groups.There is a school and educators section that provides lessons, school resources, and professional development for teachers.

Jones, Charlotte Foltz. Mistakes That Worked: 40 Familiar Inventions and How They Came to Be. New York, NY: Delacorte Press, 1991. Age Range: 8 and up Publisher's Description: Popsicles, potato chips, Silly Putty, Velcro, and many other familiar things have fascinating stories behind them. In fact, dozens of products and everyday items had surprisingly haphazard beginnings. Mistakes That Worked offers forty of these unusual tales, along with hilarious cartoons and weird and amazing facts. Readers will be surprised and inspired!

Thimmesh, Catherine. Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000. Age Range: 8 and up Publisher's Description: An outstanding collective biography of women and girls who changed the world with their inventions. Thimmesh surveys unique and creative ideas that were both borne of necessity or were simply a product of ingenuity and hard work. Included are Bette Nesmith Graham, who invented Liquid Paper, known more commonly as "white-out," and Ann Moore, who emulated the way African mothers carried their babies to create the Snugli. While working for NASA, Jeanne Lee Crews invented the "space bumper" that protects spacecraft and astronauts. The last few individuals highlighted utilized their creativity at a fairly young age. Becky Schroeder was 10 when she invented Glo-sheet paper, which enables people to write in the dark. She became the youngest female to receive a U.S. patent. The book also encourages young women to start inventing themselves and offers a list of organizations with postal and Internet addresses to help them get started. Colorful collage artwork shows the women and their creations and adds vibrancy and lightness to the text.

This website is published by the Baton Rouge Government and focuses on educating constituents about the process of recycling and which products are recyclable. The website's information toolbar along the left side of the page also directs readers to other important information about natural resources, hazardous materials, and educational classroom activities.

Blood, Charles L., and Martin Link. The Goat in the Rug. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1976. Age Range: 4 and up Publisher's Description: Geraldine is a goat, and Glenmae, a Navajo weaver. One day, Glenmae decides to weave Geraldine into a rug. First Geraldine is clipped. Then her wool is spun into fine, strong yarn. Finally, Glenmae weaves the wool on her loom. They reader learns, along with Geraldine, about the care and pride involved in the weaving of a Navajo rug -- and about cooperation between friends.

This Discovery Channel website documents how different items are made through online videos, from frozen pancakes to rubber gloves. All videos are segments from the popular T.V. show by the same name that airs on The Discovery Channel.

dePaola, Tomie. Charlie Needs a Cloak. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1973. Age Range: 6 and up Publisher's Description: A shepherd shears his sheep, cards and spins the wool, weaves and dyes the cloth, and sews a beautiful new red cloak.

Taback, Simms. Joseph Had a Little Overcoat. New York, NY: Viking Juvenile, 1999. Age Range: 5 and up Publisher's Description: When Joseph's favorite overcoat gets old and worn, he makes a jacket out of it. When the jacket is more patches than jacket, Joseph turns it into a vest. When the vest's number is up, Joseph makes a scarf. This thrifty industry continues until there's nothing left of the original garment. But clever Joseph manages to make something out of nothing! (And that's the foreshadowed moral of the story.) In today's throwaway world, Joseph's old-fashioned frugality is a welcome change. Based on a Yiddish song from Simms Taback's youth (lyrics and music reproduced on the last page), the book is filled with rhythms and arresting colors that will delight every reader. As more and more holes appear in Joseph's coat, die-cut holes appear on the pages, hinting at each next manifestation. The illustrations are striking, created with gouache, watercolor, collage, pencil, and ink. Every inch of space is crammed with fanciful, funny details,

Larson, Jennifer S. Who's Buying? Who's Selling?: Understanding Consumers and Producers. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 2010. Age Range: 6 and up Publisher's Description: This book offers easy-to-read introductions to the world of economics. Addressing readers as "you," Larson asks questions such as, "Did you ever get money for your birthday?" and "How do you decide what to do with your money?" (Do I Need It?). The everyday-life examples will demonstrate to children that they can play a vital role in the economic world. Clear, age-appropriate language explains new concepts well: "When someone works at a paid job, he or she earns money. This money is called income." Simple paragraphs of two to four short sentences appear in large colored fonts against bright backgrounds that change color with every page. Each title includes an activity such as making a spend-or-save list to help decide what to do with birthday money. The books' layout is interesting and fresh, and each page features a large, well-chosen photograph with a boxed caption. A caption in What Is Money, Anyway? states that "People trade goods at swap meets," which may confuse readers who only know swap meets as a place to buy merchandise. Margaret Hall's "Earning, Saving, Spending" series (Heinemann, 2008) covers similar topics of money, banks, allowance, credit cards, and checks, but is for first through third graders. Report writers will value her longer paragraphs with detailed coverage including history and global issues. Larson's books will help ease younger readers into the world of economics.

This BrainPOP Jr. website provides both teachers and students with an interesting collection of background information on the use of natural resources and conservation efforts, while providing teachers with fun and exciting activities to implement in the classroom.

Deedy, Carmen Agra. Agatha's Feather Bed: Not Just Another Wild Goose Story. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree Publishers, 1994. Age Range: 5 and up Publisher's Description: Agatha, a sagacious old lady, sells her woven wares and imparts knowledge to all, "especially children: Everything comes from something, / Nothing comes from nothing ." This maxim reaches "six naked geese," who are chilly and demand the return of their feathers from Agatha's feather bed. Though "a little down in the mouth," Agatha promises a solution in three days. (The geese, meanwhile, register at the "Down Town Motel" where they "took a gander in the mirror.") Agatha's solution is inspired, as is Deedy's playful yarn. From its simple beginning--"Do you see that little shop sandwiched between two skyscrapers?"--to its intriguing conclusion--"Where do goose eggs come from, anyway?"--this finely crafted collaboration abounds with information and whimsy. It also teems with puns and word play, much of which may be of greater appeal to grownups than to the book's intended audience. Seeley's atmospheric illustrations are bathed in lavender, giving them a properly old-fashioned tone. Stylized patchwork borders contain examples of Agatha's truism--a flax plant stands by a bolt of linen, a stalk of wheat by a loaf of bread.

Inches, Alison. The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle: A Story About Recycling. New York, NY: Little Simon, 2009. Age Range: 4 and up Publisher's Description: Learn about recycling from a new perspective! Peek into this diary of a plastic bottle as it goes on a journey from the refinery plant, to the manufacturing line, to the store shelf, to a garbage can, and finally to a recycling plant where it emerges into it's new life...as a fleece jacket! Told from the point of view of a free-spirited plastic bottle, kids can share in the daily experiences and inner thoughts of the bottle through his personal journal. The diary entries will be fun and humorous yet point out the ecological significance behind each product and the resources used to make it. Readers will never look at a plastic bottle the same way again!