It is our fifth year of delivering our Intermediate fall Classroom Gardening and Cooking Program in the Metro Vancouver area and our first ever year bringing our fall program to Victoria.
This fall, thanks to our amazing team of 75 chef volunteers, we were able to reach over 450 kids in 21 schools:
18 Metro Vancouver schools
three Victoria schools
Our program is very nearly complete, but here’s a sneak peek into what these classes have been up to:
Students are thrilled to meet the chefs when we first arrive in the classroom. The chefs tell them together we will be planting seeds, tasting new foods, and doing some cooking all right in their classroom.
Our lessons begin with students tasting fresh herbs and then designing their own science experiments to learn more about how plants grow. There is a shuffling in each classroom as students eagerly gather into groups, each led by a chef, where they thoughtfully discuss what plants need to grow and how to design their experiment, all while still munching on fresh dill, basil, and mint leaves. Some beans are planted in pots that get full sun while others are hidden away in a cupboard. Some are watered daily while others watered only once a week, and some not at all. Some plants are spoken too, some are sung to, some are watered with sugar water, some have salt or food dye added to their regular water… all experiments designed by students eager to see what happens as their plants grow.
Of course, not everything can be grown all year round, which means the fall is the perfect time to talk about local food, seasonal eating, food miles, and food preservation methods. Our amazing volunteer teams brought in some great examples from their kitchens of foods they preserve. After, our students got to roll up their sleeves and give it a try themselves preparing their own pickled vegetables right in the classroom.
In just a week’s time, we are able to enjoy our delicious pickles as a part fo our healthy snack lesson where students learn about the new Canada Food Guide and explore the artistic side of the culinary arts creating beautiful little canapé snacks, that also happen to be healthy!
Throughout the program, students have been learning recipe planning, flavour profiles, and plating all while practicing their knife and kitchen skills. At the fifth lesson, students’ faces light up as the chefs explain to them that today they will be putting all these skills together to work in teams and design their very own stir fry recipe, which they will be responsible for prepping, cooking, and plating next lesson. The students get right to work in their groups to carefully design and layout their recipes, trying out different flavour combinations of the various vegetables, sauces, herbs, and seasonings the chefs have brought them.
What tasty creations will these young chefs come up with?! We’ll just have to wait and see at our stir fry cooking showcase in the classroom next week!