Using Poetry to Explore Oral History and Food Heritage
One of the early things we learnt during 'Beyond the Plate' was that many children initially struggled to connect with their food heritage. Their frames of reference were shaped more by supermarket chains, ready meals, and branded restaurants than by passed-down family recipes. To bridge this gap, we turned to poetry and art as creative tools to access memory, meaning, and identity.
We invited them to use poetry and art as a way to explore their heritage instead. Poetry invites reflection, rhythm, and emotion - all key elements that help unlock memories. Children may not have detailed stories handed down yet, but asking them to write a haiku about their favourite meal or a list poem about their food habits allows them to access and record the everyday, which is the foundation of oral history.
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"I am my mum’s chicken curry, bubbling in the kitchen. I am crunchy toast at midnight."
Even a line like this holds echoes of generational knowledge, routines, and relationships.
Our observations on this approach included:
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Low-Pressure Storytelling
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Not every child feels comfortable standing up and telling a personal story, especially if they feel unsure about their connection to "heritage." But through a poetic lens, especially in accessible forms like haikus, list poems, or shape poems, they can reveal parts of their heritage in a way that feels safe and creative.
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Connecting the Present to the Past
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As referenced in our introduction, many children (and adults!) associate food with the present - brands, takeaways, or school lunches - and may not realise these too are part of their cultural identity. By framing food memories in poetic form, they can begin to ask questions about the past, such as:
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Why do we have a roast dinner on a Sunday?
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Why do we eat this on Eid / Christmas / birthdays?
These enquiries naturally lead to intergenerational conversations - which are at the heart of oral history.
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Making the Invisible Visible
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Poetry, especially with sensory prompts, helps children notice the textures of everyday life: the smell of onions, the way rice sticks to the pan, the clink of plates. When children describe these details, they're not just writing creatively, they’re documenting a moment in time, like a mini archive of modern life. They are also opportunities for discussion about how food heritage is changing because of brands e.g. as a parent I throw french fries in an air fryer for my children. However, as a child I remember my mum peeling potatoes, heating up oil and making chips every night on a Monday.
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Celebrating Diverse Voices
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You can use poetry as a way to honour the cultural spectrum of children's backgrounds. Whether a child’s heritage is deeply rooted in a specific culture or a blend of many influences, poetry will give equal value to:
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Grandma’s traditional stew
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Greggs sausage rolls
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Sushi made at home
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Roast dinners on Sundays
This will support all children in seeing no matter what their background is their stories and experiences are equally valid in the classroom.
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​For Teachers: Curriculum & Learning Benefits
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KS2 English Links: Exploring form, figurative language, and personal voice.
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History Links: Developing historical enquiry skills and understanding the concept of legacy.
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PSHE Links: Reflecting on identity, community, and family.
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Art Integration: Creating collage plates connects literacy with visual storytelling.
Our Suggestion for Framing This in Class:
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Consider using a simple framing question:
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“What will people in the future learn about us from what we eat and how we eat together?”
Let that be the guiding star of your poetry sessions - helping children see themselves as both storytellers and historians.
Sensory Poetry
Using our senses to inform poetry-writing
Inviting children to think about food through their senses is an invitation to begin to understand why memories and oral histories are important e.g. they might be able to recount the smell of a roast dinner or curry and then relate it back to a food tradition at home.
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This activity can be done individually but is written with a view that you could create a group poem to share reflections on shared food heritage - this could be by ingredient e.g. potatoes and how we use them across generations or cultures. Or, it could be about traditions and cultural heritage associated with winter festivals for instance.
Step 1: Build a Word Bank
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Everyone shares one (or more) word(s) that they associate with food. This will form your Word Bank. You could also swap "food" for specific types of cuisine, ingredients, or flavours (e.g. spice, sweetness, comfort food, etc.).
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Step 2: Make a Group Poem
Select a word from the Word Bank. This will be the title of your group poem. Everyone in the group writes a phrase or a short sentence inspired by the title. (Alternatively, you could create this through still images - pair up or work in groups to create an image and write a sentence for it. Write these down and that becomes your poem.)
Repeat as much as you like!
Example poem from a class:
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Spaghetti and Meatballs:
The sauce bubbles and pops,
A thick cloud of garlic fills the air,
Soft pasta twists around my fork,
The meatballs are savoury,
comforting, warm,
It’s the smell of family and love.
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Step 3: Connect to Your Senses
Look at your food Word Bank. Imagine a visit to your favourite restaurant, a food market, or a moment spent cooking your favourite meal. Now, still thinking of that food journey, quickly list:
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Anything you heard.
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Anything you smelt.
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Anything you touched.
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Anything you tasted.
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Anything you saw.
Use this list to create a sensory poem. Bring your food experience to life with all the sensory details.
Here are some examples:
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Food Market Poem - Mia
The market is a spicy, aromatic jungle,
It smells like sizzling kebabs,
The grill hisses and crackles with heat,
Fresh vegetables are smooth and cool to the touch,
I taste the sweet heat of chili on my lips,
And see the bright oranges of mangoes, ripe and ready.
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Pizza Poem - Luca
The cheese stretches like warm, melted gold,
It smells like fresh dough baking,
The crust is crunchy, crispy perfection,
I taste the tang of tomato sauce,
And I see the pepperoni sizzling with each bite.
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You could use the template we’ve provided below and invite the children to draw in their food and write their poem. Or, move onto the Haiku activity.
The Haiku
A traditional haiku follows a 5-7-5 syllable structure (five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third)
Food plays a crucial role in our daily lives, and each dish has a story to tell - whether it’s a comforting family recipe or a celebration of your family traditions. Through haikus, you can capture seasonal produce, memories of food, reflect your culture and celebrate how food shapes both our individual and class heritage.
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What is a Haiku?
A haiku is a short poem that originated in Japan and is now written in many languages worldwide. A traditional haiku follows a 5-7-5 syllable structure (five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third). However, modern haikus can be more flexible, so feel free to experiment with shorter or longer lines.
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Haikus often focus on nature, fleeting moments, and simple observations. In the Beyond the Plate Haiku Challenge, you’ll use this form to celebrate food – from the process of preparing it to the sensory experiences of taste, smell, and texture.
Getting Inspired
Ask the children to think of a food from home that is important to them. It could be important for lots of different reasons - something they eat for a special occasion, or something someone taught them to make. Or, if it could be a family tradition they have e.g. Chip Monday.
Ask them to imagine the sensory details of the food in that moment.
“Haikus often capture a moment or feeling, so look closely and observe the world in front of you.”
Use these prompts to inspire your writing. Children could draw their answers or write down words as you ask the question.
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What does the food look like? Is it colourful, fresh, or rich in texture?
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What sounds do you hear when preparing or enjoying food? Sizzling, chopping, boiling, or the clink of plates?
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What are the smells? Fresh herbs, warm bread, or the spices that fill the kitchen?
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How does the food make you feel? Does it bring back memories or evoke a sense of comfort?
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What story does this food tell? Is it tied to a special occasion, a cultural heritage, or a moment of connection?
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How does this food connect you to others? Is it a shared meal, a family recipe, or a tradition passed down through generations?
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Write Your Haikus
Using the observations you’ve gathered, write a haiku for each stop on your trail. Here are some examples of how to write haikus inspired by food:
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Kitchen Haiku
Chopping, frying, steam,
Herbs whisper from the garden,
Dinner comes alive.
Grandmother’s Kitchen
Steam clings to the walls,
Hands folding stories in dough,
Spices hum like songs.
Migrant Recipe
Flour from this land,
cumin from across the sea,
flavours blend in peace.
Family Favourite
No recipe here.
Just taste, adjust, taste again.
Wisdom by the pinch.
Curate Your Haikus
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Invite children to share their haikus in pairs or small groups before performing them aloud - to build confidence and create space for shared reflection. They can make any final edits before sharing with the class.
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Can they identify someone they have something in common with? Can they get into groups of people whose haikus connect.
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Now, can you find the story of your class's food heritage? Are the groups connected by culture and tradition? Perhaps they are celebrated by family ties.
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Discuss a title for your class story.
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Share Your Story!
You could use our template and invite the children to write their Haiku into the plate and decorate it with images that celebrate their food heritage.
Create a Food Heritage Haiku exhibition for your class to share their heritage.
You could extend the activity by focusing on using the Haikus to develop “I am poems”. These invite children to think a little more in response to questions to develop their food heritage stories.
The List Poem
A list poem is a simple way of recording all the elements that make up our personalities
A list poem is a simple way of recording all the elements that make up our personalities.
We found a list poem offered an open, pressure-free way for children to explore and articulate their heritage in more depth, even when they weren’t sure what that meant to them yet.
A list poem is a prompt to discuss what makes up their heritage and how they are entwined within their communities.
Invite the children to answer the questions below. Ensure they know there is no right or wrong and you can write as little or as much as you like! They don’t have to worry about making it rhyme or using ‘poetic language’. They can just see what comes out!
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Here’s a template:
Describe yourself as you are today.
I am ...
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Describe Tooting and its relationship with food
I am ...
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Have you always lived here? Do you have connections in other parts of the world?
I have ...
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Describe a person who influences how you eat
I am ...
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Describe your foods to eat and how they make you feel.
I am ...
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Describe your favourite meal & where you ate it
I am ...
Describe any traditions around the way you eat
I am ...
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Do you have a favourite foods for different occasions?
I am ...
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Describe where you like to buy your food from?
I am ...
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Describe three things about you that make you proud.
I am ...
Describe something that you are grateful for
I am grateful for ...
Describe something that you are hopeful for.
I am hopeful for ...
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Here’s an example:
I am an eclectic fridge of ingredients
I am living on the doorstep of London, which is a melting pot of flavours
I have roots in Birmingham, home of the Balti
I am eating for speed some days
I am butter beans, tahini, miso and spinach
I am fancy chocolate cake in the Oxo tower with my best pal
I am Sunday vegetables with the family
I am vegetable lasagne with friends
I am supermarkets for ease if I am honest
I am kind, creative and strong
I am grateful for a body that works
I am hopeful to eat healthy
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Once you’ve written your answers:
1. Read them aloud
2. Choose if you’d like to repeat any answers or sentences
3. Choose start and end lines- you can add in any other details you like
4. If you want you can change the order of your answers
5. Choose a title - You can use ours “I am Tooting” or create your own.
Here’s an edited example of the above poem:
I Am a Mix of Stories
I am an eclectic fridge of ingredients
living on the doorstep of London, a melting pot of flavours
I have roots in Birmingham, home of the Balti
I am eating for speed some days
butter beans, tahini, miso and spinach
I am fancy chocolate cake for my birthday with friends
Sunday vegetables with the family
vegetable lasagne with friends
I am supermarkets for ease if I am honest
I am kind, creative, and strong
grateful for a body that works
hopeful to be able to always eat healthy
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Or you can try the same activity but edit answers together to make a class poem.
I am French and loving sushi, from England with a Scottish grandpa, Spanish loving Manchester City, from London and adopted.
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I am rice and relaxed, peas and happy, sushi and spiced out, tired from chicken wings and pasta and energetic from cucumber.
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I am my mum cooking everyday, my brother cooking when my parents can’t, my dad cooking the best lasagne, the chef at Stix & Sushi making salmon ice cream cones, my dad that lets me cook and my grandma making the best rice.
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I am my house in my kitchen, McDonald’s, long tables and very busy, bricks and cloth curtains, fancy and calm.
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I am an Eid chocolate cake, Christmas oatmeal cookies, chocolate Easter eggs, kougelhopf rising by the fire, oysters and moules at Christmas, pastries stuffed with jam on Sundays and the 12 days of Christmas roast potatoes sprinkled with rosemary.
I am an older sister, so tired, a football fan, a younger sister, an animal lover, the only girl in my family, a middle child and 8 years old.
I am sushi and full, broccoli and sleepy, fish and chips thinking of football, pizza reminding me of my Italian family, spaghetti bolognaise and energetic, a beef burger and a giant T rex on the rampage.
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I am my mums buying and cooking everything, my dad cooking sausage and chips, my dad’s macaroni, the people in Greggs, my own inspiration, the Mr Whippy man, my caretakers baguettes and cheese.
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I am my brown comfy sofa, a fine French restaurant, my baby brothers finger marked table, a green fluffy sofa, flashing lights and noise, a pushed door and tables, a dark campsite with white tents and a blue and white picnic blanket.
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I am a turkey waiting to be eaten on Christmas Day, an old forgotten sweet on the corner of the table, a chicken before Christmas, a big crunchy biscuit in my belly sent from my grandmother, an Easter egg, a flaming Christmas pudding and a chocolate Santa wrapped in foil.
Use this poetry project as an invitation for children to explore, celebrate, and archive the everyday stories that shape who they are - and who we are as a community.