Sustainable Snacking: Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding for Earth Day

Tomorrow, April 22nd, is Earth Day! This day is a great opportunity to help children understand how food, from production to consumption, impacts the Earth. Understanding how food affects the world we live in will help us to waste less and eat more sustainably.

Here are a couple examples of how food impacts our environment:

• We use a lot of water to produce the food we eat. For example, according to National Geographic, it requires 13 gallons of water to grow 1 orange and 18 gallons to grow 1 apple. This means that if you waste fruits and veggies, you're also wasting water.
• We waste 30-40% of all food produced, according to the World Wildlife Foundation.
• We use 1/3 of the world's surface to produce food, according to the World Wildlife Foundation.

To celebrate Earth Day, we've created a Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding. Chia seeds are an unprocessed, whole-grain, and they are a source of of omega-3 fatty acids, carbohydrates, protein, fiber, antioxidants, and calcium. According to The Permaculture Research Institute, chia seeds grow easily in soils that aren't wet, so they require less water than many crops, making them a sustainable grain.

Kids can help:

• Measure and pour the almond milk.
• Measure and mix the chia seeds, cacao powder, and honey.
• Crush the chocolate and graham crackers.
• Fill jars with "soil" pudding.
• Create their own patterns using the different "edible soils".

Chocolate Chia Seed "Soil" Pudding

Yields: 10 mini jars (Honest Tip: recycle your baby food jars!)

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup sweetened original or chocolate almond milk

1/4 cup chia seeds

3 tablespoons cacao powder

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 cup crushed graham crackers

1/2 cup crushed chocolate animal crackers

mint leaves for garnish

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, stir together 1 1/4 cup almond milk, 1/4 cup chia seeds, 3 tablespoons cacao powder, and 1 tablespoon honey.
2. Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight to achieve pudding texture.
3. In small jars or cups, alternate layers of crushed graham crackers, pudding, and crushed chocolate crackers.
4. Garnish with mint leaves.

~Recipes and photos by Katie Romey, MS, RD, Foodstirs Chef; Text by Jessica Schuster

How are you celebrating Earth Day this year? Let us know in the comments below!