<![CDATA[Sustainable food education in early childhood can benefit from learning experiences that connect children with food production, environmental responsibility, and social participation. This qualitative practice-based study examined the development and pilot implementation of the Mak Tani (“Mari Kita Tanam dan Nikmati”/Let Us Plant and Enjoy”) program at TK Kartika Salatiga, Indonesia. The study used a design thinking approach involving 17 children as the main participants and teachers, the school principal, and parents as adult informants. The Mak Tani prototype consists of a 5M learning design: planting seeds, caring for vegetables, harvesting vegetables, processing vegetables, and consuming vegetables, integrating experiential learning, democratic participation, environmental education, food literacy, and an early childhood adaptation of the people–planet–profit perspective. Qualitative evidence from observations, documentation, and follow-up interviews indicated increased participation in gardening activities and greater willingness among some children to taste vegetables they helped grow and prepare. Parents also reported that some children discussed the gardening experience at home and appeared more open to trying vegetables. These findings provide promising practice-based evidence, rather than causal proof, that a “seed to plate” learning trajectory may support children’s engagement with vegetables and related environmental and social learning. The study’s contribution is articulating the 5M design as an integrative pedagogical framework that operationalizes democratic participation through concrete, developmentally appropriate food learning experiences. Because the study involved one institution, 17 children, one planting cycle, no comparison group, and predominantly qualitative evidence, the findings should not be generalized as proof of effectiveness. Future research should test and refine the 5M stages using larger samples, comparison designs, longer follow-up, and structured behavioral measures.]]>
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