Before the meeting:

1. Contact store management at a local grocery store to schedule a tour. Let them know that you are bringing a group of 5th graders to learn about food sources. Request a tour with someone knowledgeable about the source of items in the grocery store. Confirm the date and time of your visit.
2. Remind parents or legal guardians of the time, date, and location of the visit and ask them to bring a completed Activity Consent Form.
3. A few days before the tour, call the grocery store and confirm.
4. Print one Food Source Grocery Store worksheet for each Cub Scout.

During the meeting:

1. Gather Cub Scouts at a predetermined location. Explain that they are visiting a grocery to see where food products are sourced, and where they came from. As they tour the grocery store, they are to ask where the food was grown or processed and determine the number of miles traveled from the food source to the grocery store. For example, an orange may have been grown in Argentina, sent to a packing facility, shipped to the United States to a warehouse, and then shipped to the local store.
2. Pass out clipboards, pencils, and Food Source Grocery Store worksheets. Ask Cub Scouts to fill out their worksheet as they tour the grocery store. Cub Scouts may want to take pictures of their chosen foods.
3. After visiting the grocery store, gather Cub Scouts and ask them to review their worksheets. What conclusions can they draw about the source of the selected food items?
   • Are fruits and vegetables available all year?
   • Which vendor is located the closest? The furthest?
   • How many different countries does the store receive produce from?
   • What happens to produce that is not purchased and starts to go bad?

After the meeting:

1. Send a thank you note to the store management.