SASKATOON – Agriculture in the Classroom Saskatchewan (AITC-SK) has launched a new educational resource to help prepare students for life outside of the classroom.
The Food Security Budget Game helps students explore the obstacles preventing food security and learn the skills of budgeting and cost-effective food choices. Based on the latest data from Statistics Canada, 5.8 million Canadians, including 1.4 million children, lived in food insecure households in 2021.
“The Food Security Budget Game helps high school students develop important life skills,” says Sara Shymko, executive director of AITC-SK. “Students learn that many families are only a paycheque or unexpected expense away from food insecurity. It is imperative that students understand the barriers and challenges of food security, and why budgeting is so important to financial stability.”
Students partake in a real-life budgeting activity that highlights a variety of lifestyles and financial situations such as varying incomes, family structures, and other necessities. The students establish a budget for the month, then are handed an unplanned or emergency expense that they must account for. The financial sacrifice often includes food. The activity promotes critical thinking and problem solving, increasing food and financial literacy for high school students.
The resource was launched in November for Financial Literacy Month, to join in the movement of engaging Canadians to help strengthen financial literacy of individuals. The Food Security Budget Game was developed in partnership with Conexus Credit Union. Conexus Credit Union supports the financial well-being of their members and communities. By partnering with AITC-SK on this resource, they are providing teachers with a tool that will help prepare our youth for the future.
“Conexus is proud to support AITC-SK in enriching the education delivered in Saskatchewan classrooms by providing fun and engaging financial literacy resources. Financial literacy is a critical life skill for people of all ages and something we’re dedicated to enhancing and bringing more awareness to in the community,” says Skylar Gerard, Manager Community Engagement. “When one is financially literate, they feel more confident in making smart, responsible decisions with their money, a skill needed more than ever in today’s volatile economic environment.”
Teachers can order The Food Security Budget Game for free by visiting www.aitc.sk.ca
— Submitted by Agriculture in the Classroom Saskatchewan
