How Do You Convince a First Grader to Like Peas? Teach Them

May 20, 2026 | Source: Civil Eats | by Rebekah Alvey

It’s Thursday morning at Truesdell Elementary School in Washington, D.C., and the smell of garlic and herbs are wafting down the hall. Inside a classroom, covered in posters about soil, plants, and food, a class of first graders are making pesto.

The first lesson is on classification. A teacher sits in front of the students with illustrations of different kale leaves. These are all cousins, she explains, related but not identical, just like human cousins.

Then the students break into groups. One group continues their classification lesson by rubbing imprints on paper: Brussels sprouts, kale, leeks. Another group heads out to the school garden to draw the different plants they find. Some bravely try something new: small yellow flowers blooming from a broccoli plant.

At last, the students make their way to the school’s teaching kitchen, a modernized space equipped with a stove and plenty of counter space for students to prep food. There, they each play a role in making a pasta dish. They chop snap peas, cut lemons, peel garlic, and wash fresh spinach. A teacher helps the students make the pesto in a food processor, a mixture of garlic, spinach, pumpkin seeds, olive oil, and lemon zest.

>> Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, Organic Bytes <<