SUN VALLEY - Sixteen chickens have taken their place among the books and test tubes at The Community School.

Thirty eighth-grade students are raising them to learn about where food comes from. In this case, chicken is what's for dinner.

The students will soon serve their locally-raised chickens for dinner in hopes of convincing the community to become more conscious eaters.

Science teacher Scott Runkel and English teacher Naomi Goldberg challenged their students to make a change in the way the community eats.

As they've delved into the subject of food, the students have decided they want to encourage people to eat healthier and push for more humane treatment of animals. And they want to influence people to consume more food grown in the region to reduce pollution that results from trucking food long distances.

"We want to make people aware what's in their food - a lot don't know," said student Regina Kelly.

To bone up on the subject, the students saw the movie "Food Inc." They read "Food Matters" and "Chew on This," the children's version of "Fast Food Nation."

They picked potatoes at Mike Heath's organic M&M farm near Buhl. They visited a dairy farm near Twin Falls. They toured a pig farm. And then six of the students built a 9-by-13-foot greenhouse next to the school, calculating for such things as the area's heavy snow load.

In the process, students learned some things that gave them indigestion.

They learned, for instance, that cows fed corn rather than grass are prone to developing kidney and liver problems because they can't digest the corn.

"When cows poop, they create methane, which contributes to global warming," said student Katie Feldman. "But if they're fed grass they don't get as gassy"

To educate the community, the students are writing a cookbook that will feature healthy recipes organized by the seasons in which the foods are most plentiful locally. They're also filming a documentary on the project and hosting a dinner for teachers they hope will pass on the message of their findings.

Some of the students report that they've already made changes in the way they eat. For instance, they're checking ingredient labels on foods and avoiding those with more than five ingredients or those that contain ingredients that are unpronounceable or unfamiliar.

Student Hayley Murach said she used to eat steak every night but has cut back.

"It's hard to avoid processed foods 100 percent," said Feldman. "But everything in moderation."