While many lesson plans may use food as a material, most plans with food are about food itself. Teaching children about nutrition, the food pyramid and the healthy choices they can make begins with simple introductions in early elementary. It continues in high school classrooms by providing them with a more advanced understanding of the role food plays in their lives.

Fruits and Vegetables
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides lesson plans for teachers to coincide with MyPyramid for Kids, a food pyramid resource catering to the needs of children. These lessons include "Vary Your Veggies and Focus on Fruits," a food lesson plan that teaches children about fruits and vegetables, available in two levels. Level one is for first- and-second grade students and level two is for third and fourth grade. The level one lesson plan helps students develop an understanding of the fruits and vegetables in their diet by recording what they have eaten in a week's time using a food diary. After recording their data, the students graph the fruits and vegetables that they have eaten for a visual representation to decide if they have included enough in their diet. Leave the choice of new fruits and vegetables they may add to their diet up for discussion. The level two food lesson plan includes teaching the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables. Have the students brainstorm and list those that are already included in their diet and how they will add new choices to be healthier. The lesson also has students create ad campaigns for vegetables in order to promote them as a class activity.

Food Smarts: MyPyramid for Kids
This Discover Education lesson plan, for kindergarten through fifth graders, uses charts from the USDA MyPyramid as well as the video "Food Smarts: MyPyramid for Kids" to teach students about the different food groups. Students will place food advertisements from a newspaper into the proper food groups, learn how many foods from each group they should consume each day as well as their suggested daily caloric intake. They will create their own nutritious meal plan based on what they have learned. At the completion of the lesson, students should be able to identify each of the food groups and how many from each food group they should eat. They will gain a general understanding of their daily nutritional needs and the elements of a healthy diet.

Get Your Calcium-Rich Foods
Designed for students in the fifth and sixth grades, the USDA food lesson plan "Get Your Calcium-Rich Foods" teaches students about the foods that belong in the milk group along with the importance of calcium in their diets. They will learn how to read and understand food labels. The lesson begins with students examining food labels from various dairy products, identifying the different calorie, fat, calcium and sugar content. The lesson also includes a group activity in which students will taste test milks, ranging from fat free to whole milk. They must attempt to identify the type of milk, noting the taste differences, followed up with a discussion on how they may reduce their fat intake by changing the milk that they drink.

Simple Steps for Healthy Living
A high school level food lesson plan from Discovery Education, "MyPyramid: Simple Steps for Healthy Living" students covers the foods that make up the food group and the importance of eating healthy at a more in-depth level than in previous years. Using the MyPyramid website, they determine their personal nutrition goals based on their age, height and weight. The lesson then asks students to keep a food diary for one week, recording all of their meals. The students must then compare what they have eaten to the guidelines set forth from the MyPyramid site. A one- to two-page report is written by the students explaining the choices they made, the comparisons and how they may implement healthier choices into their diet and lifestyle.