Celebrating International Women's Day at Growing Chefs

At Growing Chefs, we adore International Women’s Day. It’s a great opportunity for us to reflect on our community and highlight some of the local women and women-run businesses that are creating delicious food and accomplishing amazing feats, right in our backyard. And wow - our community makes this easy for us! Read on to virtually meet some of the wonderful women that help keep our hearts and bellies full.

Plus, we asked each of them to name women who inspire them, so the appreciation goes on and on! Enjoy.

Selma van Halder

Our very own Chef Selma’s talents expand even farther than Program Manager and Chef Educator at Growing Chefs; you can also find her co-managing the kitchen at Luv the Grub, and mentoring other change-makers with Groundswell.

What is your earliest food-related memory?

My earliest food memories are mostly of my mom and I in the kitchen together. The first dish I remember making start to finish was an omelette. When I was 5 there was one evening a week where I took swimming lessons. As a light meal before splashing into the pool, and no doubt as a way to make me feel good about the evening despite the swimming lesson, my mom would allow me to make my own omelette every week. The only thing I needed help with was the pulling apart of the egg shell, because I needed someone with stronger thumbs than mine. I'd help out in the kitchen often, but being allowed to turn on the gas and do the whole thing uninterrupted was a big deal. I'd eat it on a white milk bun in the car on the way to the pool. I remember absolutely hating swimming lessons (too cold!), but loving that precious omelette and the joy of making it all by myself.

Do you have a garden at home? What do you like to grow?

I love my garden! I used to grow all kinds of things in pots on my balcony, and now I have the joy of gardening in boxes in my yard. Last year I grew lots of leafy greens like spinach, kale, and collards, a whole host of different coloured carrots and beets, lots of herbs, and a tomato forest that got a little out of hand.

How do you help to support and lift up other women in food and agriculture?

By learning, by advocating, by co-conspiring, and by putting my money where my mouth is. There are some immensely awesome women and femmes working in all corners of our food system and they deserve support. I spend my energy and my money on getting to know folks in our food system, especially those with historically overlooked identities, like women and femmes who are racialised or whose womanhood intersects with other marginalised identities.

Who are your favourite women role models in food and agriculture (2-3)?

Karen McAthy: I met Chef Karen at my volunteer training with Growing Chefs, 6 years ago. Over the years I've gotten to know her as a kind, generous, and extremely talented person. To be able to make it as far as she has as a woman in an often exclusionary industry, with a vision as radical as hers, is more than commendable. She is a force. I'm glad to see her business Blue Heron thriving, and that she is getting some of the recognition she deserves.

Alexis Nikole Nelson (@alexisnikole on TikTok and @blackforager on Instagram): Alexis knows so much about foraging and does lots of experimenting in her kitchen. I love people who are nerdy in a very particular direction. Alexis' posts remind me that there is so much more to learn and that there's always ways to make learning more fun (like by singing a song in the middle of a video). Her commentary about the revolutionary aspect of foraging as a Black woman is on point.

Leah Penniman: Leah is the founding co-director of Soul Fire Farm, a Black and Indigenous-led regenerative community farm in Grafton, NY. She is also the author of the book Farming While Black. Her knowledge of how healthy ecosystems work, her ability to articulate issues of racism and injustice in the food system, and her work in education and advocacy are things I aspire to every day.

Erika Simms

Erika is a Vancouver native who loves gardening and good food. Her passions arose from the time spent with her father in the family garden. For many years she worked as a chef with a focus on fresh, organic, and local ingredients. While working in food security, she developed a seed library and taught many gardening workshops. Currently, she is working at West Coast Seeds as the Community Roots Program Coordinator. She is inspired by charities, schools, and non-profit organizations that promote an interest in local foods and support their communities. Erika has even volunteered for the Growing Chefs classroom program! We feel so lucky to have the support of her and West Coast Seeds.

What is your earliest food-related memory?

My grandmother baked beautiful cakes that had a special buttercream icing and homemade marzipan figures on top.

Do you have a garden at home? What do you like to grow?

Yes, I have raised bed gardens and containers. I have some small fruit trees and berry bushes. I grow peas, beans, lettuce, Asian greens, shallots and many types of herbs. My goal is to try something new each year. This year I will try growing celeriac.

How do you help to support and lift up other women in food and agriculture?

As part of my role as Community Roots Program Coordinator at West Coast Seeds (WCS), I support many communities through our Seed Donation Program. WCS donates to several organizations managed by women. Personally, I buy the produce of two local women farmers in Richmond. They are an inspiration to me because of their dedication and hard work.

Who are your favourite women role models in food and agriculture?

There are so many women who work hard in the food and agriculture field that it is difficult to decide. I choose these role models because they work hard and are avid supporters of their communities.

• Arzeena Hamir, Amara Farm (Courtenay, BC)

• Kimi Hendess, Sweet Digz Farm (Richmond, BC)

• Kareno Hawbolt, Sweet Digz Farm (Richmond, BC)

Natasha Sawyer

Chef Tasha Sawyer has been a chef for the last 13 years, and an avid forager since she was a child. She is passionate about local ingredients, is a champion for good food, and is a dedicated culinary educator. She is driven by her passion for food and dedication to food security. For her, food is fundamental to building and sustaining community, and integral to creating connections across diverse communities. She is currently a Chef-in-Residence with the LunchLAB program, as well as a casual instructor at Vancouver Community College. In addition, you can often find her doing dinner pop-ups and catering. 

 What is your earliest food-related memory?

One of my earliest food related memories is playing with my little toy kitchen with mini pots and pans. My mom would give me slices of carrot and raw rice to play with so I could pretend to be cooking. Sometimes I would crunch the grains of raw rice and be really disappointed I couldn’t cook at the real stove. 

How do you help to support and lift up other women in food and agriculture?

In my efforts to support women in food and agriculture, I prefer to work at a grassroots level. In my role as a culinary instructor, I do my best to nurture young women, especially women who show an interest in going into the culinary industry. I have been a resource, consultant,  and champion for women starting independent businesses, and promote those businesses through event collaboration. 

Do you have a garden at home? What do you like to grow?

I have had a garden at home for the last 5 years, and it's one of my greatest pleasures. I grow herbs; thyme, oregano, chives, and rosemary. The rosemary lives through the winter, which is incredible. I change up what I plant every year, but I particularly love to grow squash, beets, and collard greens. Those vegetables make me particularly happy. 

Who are your favourite women role models in food and agriculture?

There are so many awe-inspiring women at the forefront of shaping food and agriculture. One of my mentors is Chef Andrea Carlson. She is the co-owner of 3 restaurants here in Vancouver, and is a pioneer of the farm-to-table movement in BC. I admire her dedication to local farmers and organic food, as well as her endless creativity. Asha Wheeldon, the founder of Kula Foods is another extraordinary food pioneer here in BC. Her food activism and promotion of Afro-Vegan cuisine moves me, and I really hope to work with her one day. 

Annamarie Klippenstein

Annamarie is co-owner of Klippers Organic Acres. This 60-acre farm was started in 2001 by herself and her husband Kevin. Annamarie grew up on a certified organic farm in Chilliwack, BC as the third oldest of Hans and Mary Forstbauer’s 12 children. Growing up dyslexic in the 90s was hard, but with the support of her parents, she learned that hard work and determination would prevail and she graduated at the top of her class. The same hard work and determination has now been a driving force in the success and expansion of Klippers Organic Acres, being recognized as Canada’s Outstanding Farmer in 2011, Row Fourteen (#1 New Restaurant in 2019), Klippers Suites, and Untangled Craft Cider. 

Having grown up on a large family farm, Annamarie knew the importance of good, healthy food. After spending a few years in Vancouver working in the hospitality industry, she decided to move back to the family farm. It was there that Annamarie and Kevin decided to start a farm of their own and Klippers was conceived. Today, Annamarie plans the crops and crop rotations, and you will find her in the greenhouse, the packing house, the fields, or in the restaurant as the GM. Her passion (much like her mother’s), is to raise her children in the business, teaching them respect, work ethic, and a deep connection to the land. 

Annamarie and her team at Klippers Organics have been generous supporters of Growing Chefs for years! We’re already looking forward to tomato season and the many farmer’s markets visits to see them this summer.

What is your earliest food-related memory?  

I was fortunate to grow up on a farm. When I was 3 years old, I remember being in the zucchini field with my dad and my little sister. She took a gold zucchini, ate it, and called it a banana...

What is your favourite crop to grow?  

My favourite crop to grow has to be tomatoes! It never gets old with thousands of varieties to choose from. 

How do you help to support and lift up other women in food and agriculture? 

Over the years this has changed, ranging from offering an internship on our farm, being a mentor though the young agrarian program, and sitting on panels.

Who are your favourite women role models in food and agriculture?  

My mom Mary Forstbauer is my #1 role model and my biggest fan.

The Doughgirls - Thuy Kelp and Rose Concepción

The Doughgirls are two long-time friends, who, when they met working in the culinary industry many years ago, realized that among a common interest in mini longhaired dachshunds, they also shared a passion for creating delicious foods and baked goods. This combined passion for food has inspired a rich and rewarding career for both Thuy & Rose. Working together for almost two decades, you can imagine how many conversations there were about the latest food trends, the oldest traditions of classic dishes, and the revelations of how to best prepare them.

It's through these many, many conversations that the passion continues to be expressed through the foods and baked goods that are shared with their customers. 

We are so grateful to be supported by Doughgirls through the Hot Chocolate Festival, and never miss a chance to grab a decadent, comforting treat when we’re in the Wesbrook Village neighborhood!

 What is your earliest food-related memory?

Thuy: It was when I was a little older. I wanted to make Coq au vin, because I always read about it. We had never eaten a meal braised in red wine, so I thought it was terrible. My sweet mom said it was very good.

Rose: One of my earliest food memories is when I went with my Mom to a neighbourhood Italian bakery in Jersey. The place was packed and noisy with locals and there were mountains of little butter cookies of all different colours and flavours. They filled a big box for us, which they tied up with a red ribbon. They gave me a green leaf shaped one dipped in chocolate to eat right away. That was a sweet walk home. 

Do you have a garden at home? What do you like to grow?

Thuy: I can only can grow rosemary without killing it.

Rose: My terrace garden has a herb mix of rosemary, thyme, lavender, tarragon, lemon verbena, and mint. Also, a finicky little fig tree.

How do you help to support and lift up other women in food and agriculture?

Rose: Through relationships in our community, we focus on supporting neighbourhood programs where food brings folks together. We are fortunate to have UBC Farm just a stones’s throw away and there are many amazing, hard-working women there who are passionate about sustainable food systems. We donate breads and baked goods to different charities and non-profit programs, where women are building community. St. Andrews provides a soup night for the UBC community to support people with a home-cooked meal. 

Who are your favourite women role models in food and agriculture?

Thuy: My mom and all the other moms and grandmothers I have met.  They can make delicious food with their skills that have been passed down to them. Most of them don’t even use recipes. They make it look so easy.

Rose: We have had the great fortune to have worked with and mentored many remarkable women in our industry. It’s wonderful and inspiring to still be in contact with so many of them. We continue to support and raise each other up in what has been a predominantly male-dominated profession. The women in our business, especially, have inspired me tremendously during this challenging last year. They show up with their smiles, positive energy, and commitment to our team and community each and every day!

Getting Back to our Roots with Food Traditions: Part 4

We hope you enjoy this food tradition from the home of Amanda, our Program Manager.

Every year for the past 5 years, during the first week of January, my partner and I have hosted a large Ukrainian Christmas Dinner for as many of our friends as we are physically able to fit in our little home. It has become quite the event, not just for us but for those of our guests who look forward to it and come each year. We spend two days preparing everything using the knowledge and skills my Mom and my Grandma taught me and from my exploring of a cookbook I have inherited from my Grandma with traditional Ukranian recipes, in which she has of course, added her own notes and corrections in the margins. There is only one rule for guests that are attending this feast, no one is allowed to bring anything but their appetites- it is a full meal prepared and cooked by us for them and there is no shortage of food or drink to go around. 

The menu keeps expanding as I explore more traditional Ukrainian foods and recipes but every year the meal always includes:

Kutia - a sweet wheat dish that is central to a traditional Ukrainian Christmas Eve dinner

Borsch - a bright red beet soup 

Varenyky (pierogies) - a Ukrainian dumpling filled with either potato, cottage cheese, plum, sauerkraut, poppy seeds, berries, or raisins (we typically make a cheese, caramelized onion and potato filling)

Holubtsi (cabbage rolls) - Boiled cabbage leaves filled with rice or beans, mushrooms, and onions. My family usually added ground beef or pork when I was growing up but traditionally these were vegetarian at least for Christmas Eve dinner when no meat was to be eaten.

Nalysnyky - a sweet crepe filled with cottage cheese and dill ( and one of my favourite dishes!)

Kolach - a beautiful braided sweet bread with a crispy crust

Pickled vegetables

Sauerkraut

This is a new tradition that we have started and made as our own. It’s been a way for me to explore more of my Ukrainian heritage through food and hosting the meal really comes from the tradition I grew up with of feeding others and, of course, a love and appreciation of handmade, from-scratch Ukrainian food. Growing up, pierogies and cabbage rolls were always an inclusion at every holiday dinner. Christmas. Easter. Thanksgiving. It didn’t matter if there was a turkey or a ham (or both), it didn't matter how many sides were a part of the meal, there were always pierogies and cabbage rolls somewhere on the table and it was usually one of the first dishes of the meal that was eaten.  

There is something very special about feeding others and it was always something my family was always happy to do. My Grandma always had a fresh made pot of borsch for me whenever I visited. It was about a six hour drive to where she lived and no matter what time I got in at, there was always food that she had made just for me waiting. As soon as I got in the door I could smell the sweet beet aroma from the pot on the stove and after hugs and general greetings she would usher me to the table (usually commenting I was too skinny and needed to eat more) and put a full steaming hot bowl of her borsch down in front of me. This feeding others and hosting friends was a tradition in my home growing up as well. My sister and I were always able to invite friends to join for dinners, especially during holidays when I was in university and many of my friends were far from their own families. They were always invited and welcome at our table.   

Hosting a gathering of our friends and providing them with a hearty meal is how I have chosen to carry on these traditions and making it entirely out of those Ukrainian dishes I grew up with is my own way of exploring and staying connected to my family’s heritage. It isn’t necessarily difficult food to make, but it is time and labour-intensive with many steps involved, and the making of pierogies and cabbage rolls in particular is always a collaborative effort. I still like to help my mom fill and roll the cabbage leaves whenever I am home and she is making them. 

For me, food is meant to be shared with others, including the experience of making it. This is a tradition my partner and I carry on as we set aside a weekend to spend together preparing these dishes to host our annual dinner, stock our freezer, or prepare the dishes to deliver to friends. Even after a few years of making them, we continue to refine our pierogi pinching and cabbage rolling skills, I still do not know how my Grandma got her cabbage rolls so neatly and tightly wrapped. We like to play around a little with the filling recipes, but I definitely stick pretty close to the recipes from my Grandma, as being able to make these foods helps me continue to feel connected to her since her passing.

Getting Back to Our Roots with Food Traditions: Part 3

Our staff and board have been sharing our food traditions from home with you this month. This week’s features are Kitchari, Broccoli Trees, and Meatballs. 

Farah - Growing Chefs! Fundraising and Operations Assistant: My family is from Kenya and Uganda, and my ancestors from India. Kitchari, a porridge-like dish made of split mung beans and rice, was a staple in our house growing up. Although traditionally cooked as is  (and eaten with a side of vegetable curry),  there is also the option to add vegetables, oils, spices, and garnishes to the mix. This dish is super easy to make, satiating, nutrient-dense, and very affordable. In Ayurveda, kitchari is used as a cleanse for removing toxins and aiding digestion.

Cayley - Growing Chefs! Program and Operations Assistant: When we were young, my brother and I didn’t share my Mom’s love of vegetables (unless they were fresh from the garden!). Being the veggie advocate she is, she would pose us challenges like “nobody’s leaving this table until you each eat 11 carrot sticks!” or “everybody must eat 6 broccoli trees!”. While this is likely a common story in many households, Mom continued this into our adult years, including our friends, houseguests, and anybody else we shared meals with - long after we’d developed our own love for vegetables. It’s been a couple decades since this began, but I still get to enjoy fond memories of childhood meals when I sit down to eat with my partner or long-time friends, and they tell me “you must eat 13 grapes!”.

Afton - Growing Chefs! Program Liaison:  When I go visit my mom I often request my favourite dish from my childhood, “Porcupine Meatballs”. To make Porcupine Meatballs you mix uncooked rice with ground meat and seasoning, form meatballs and then bake in tomato sauce. The cooked rice pokes out of the meatballs so that they look a bit like little porcupines taking a bath in tomato sauce. While this dish doesn’t go back generations (and lacks vegetables), it is really yummy and reminds me of my childhood. I’m not sure why this dish sticks in my brain, I don’t recall if we ate it often and it wasn’t something we ate on special occasions, but I remember eating it and it reminds me of my mom. I don’t think I have ever cooked Porcupine meatballs for my family, but now that I think about it, it sounds like a great thing to have for dinner!

Getting Back to Our Roots with Food Traditions: Part 2

We have more food traditions to share from our staff and board. This week we are talking about kale, latkes, and homegrown vegetables.

Chef Selma - Growing Chefs! Chef Educator: In Holland, we ate kale way before it was cool. The name for kale in Dutch translates to “farmers cabbage”. We call it that because traditionally it was the crop that farmers could, and would, keep for themselves and eat all season round right off their land. Kale always tastes better after the first frost, because it forces the plant to turn some of its starches into sugar. My dad taught me these things when I was little, while crouching next to me beside the car, pointing at a field full of it on what I remember as many, many wet and windy autumn days, before driving past a Brussels sprouts field and doing the same thing there. While not native to the Netherlands, to most people there the word boerenkool (farmers cabbage) signifies the one dish most connected to our national identity. You’d almost think we’ve been making it since time began (or at least since the 17th century). As culinary tradition in my country dictates: it shall be mixed with mashed potatoes, and served with sausage. For a recipe of my favourite nostalgic comfort food, please click here.

Jaydeen - Growing Chefs! Development and Communications Director: My wife is Jewish so in recent years I’ve been introduced to the wonderful world of Jewish food traditions. My favourite is latkes during Hanukkah. We eat them hot and top them with sour cream and homemade applesauce. At first I thought the combination was crazy (and I embarrassingly ate them like hashbrowns with hot sauce or ketchup) but now I love the dish served the same way as her family. Oftentimes we will use the leftover latkes for brunch. Latke bennys! 

Amrit - Growing Chefs! Board Member: My grandma used to live down the street from us in Prince George. The summers are short there but she had a huge garden in her backyard and would always plant a wide variety of vegetables including peas, carrots, zucchini, and cauliflower. My brother and I would go there every week to “help in the garden” but most of the time we’d end up eating whatever we pulled. She would have us help her cook different dishes and while we didn’t realize it at the time, we both developed an appreciation of fresh vegetables and a life-long love of cooking that we hope one day to pass on to our kids!

Do you have any food traditions in your home? We would love to hear about them!

Growing Chefs! At Home: Lesson 5

Welcome to our fifth lesson of Growing Chefs! at Home. This lesson is all about food and our emotions. Chef Afton, her kiddo, and a superstar team of volunteers are here to talk about food and its connection to our emotions. Don’t miss the extra video in our lesson this week: Chef Ben making zoodles from his own kitchen!

This is the fifth lesson in our Growing Chefs! at Home series, following Lesson Four last week, where we learned about mindful eating. Keep an eye on our social media platforms and website every Tuesday morning for new lessons!

During this lesson, we will discuss the basic emotions and discover how food can be connected to these emotions. In Lesson Three, we learned about how food is connected to how our body feels physically, but food is also connected to how we feel emotionally. Foods can also remind us of times, places and people. Eating pineapple might remind you of a tropical vacation and make you feel relaxed, or the smell of tomatoes might remind you of your grandma’s garden and make you feel happy! The smell of some foods (like mint) can also make us naturally feel relaxed or energized. Everyone has a different emotional connection to food, so we have asked our volunteers and supporters to let you all know how food makes them feel! Special thanks to everyone that sent in a video clip. We will finish off this lesson with an easy activity that you can do at home next time you are snacking on some vegetables. 

We would love to hear about how food makes you feel! Tag us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to share with us.

Below, you will find Chef Ben Mattman, from the Vancouver Marriott Hotel, sharing his feelings about zucchini with us, and creating a super fun zoodle dish!

You can find all of our new online content here on our website. We will also be announcing and releasing more fun interactive activities on our social media channels. Thank you for joining us again in our virtual classrooms this week!

Getting Back to Our Roots With Food Traditions

Every culture has food traditions. Food is part of how we celebrate, comfort, make friends, communicate and so much more. Over the next few months the Growing Chefs! Staff and Board will be sharing the food traditions that we have at home. The first tradition we would like to share is from our Executive Director, Helen Stortini. 

Helen Stortini - Growing Chefs! Executive Director: For my family, every Saturday night is pasta night. No one’s sure exactly when the tradition began, but my dad, John, recalls it starting with his three of his older sisters, Rita, Mary, and Valeria back in the 1950s in Northern Ontario. As the youngest of seven siblings, my dad’s sisters were much older and had families of their own by the time he was a school-aged boy. By then, it was just my dad and my poppa Giovanni at home—my grandmother Anna passed away when my father was very young. My poppa often worked nights so Saturday evenings found my dad crashing dinner at my one of my Auntie’s homes. Each of his sisters had their own (delicious) variation of a red sauce and meatballs. My mom, although not Italian, learned to make her own version of this sauce after my parents married and, in my entirely unbiased opinion, she makes the best, softest, most delicious meatballs I’ve ever eaten. Saturday night pasta carried on through my childhood, my teens, and continues to this day for my parents back in Sault Ste. Marie. Every Saturday morning, my mom gets up early, puts on a pot of sauce, makes those special meatballs, and then with my dad’s help, rolls out fresh pasta. 

The Stortini siblings, circa 1971

In the last month, as my family has tried to connect more often with video calls during these isolating times (and are so grateful to have the privilege to do so), nearly seventy years after the Stortini Sister’s Family Pasta Night started, we’ve forged a new tradition and taken our family Pasta Night online. Every week, my mom and dad in the Soo, my sister, brother-in-law, and niece in Austin, and my son and husband here in Vancouver, gather around our tables and log online to dine. The menu in each home varies as we incorporate local and seasonal fare from our respective regions. Past menus include lasagna, tagliatelle with mushrooms, spaghetti with clams, and of course, red sauce and meatballs. But it’s always pasta. In these uncertain times, we may feel farther apart than ever, but we also feel closer than we’ve been in ages.

John with sisters Rita, Mary, Nita, and Val, circa 1999

Fun Fact: Stortini is actually a pasta shape and translates to “little crooked ones”. They are wee elbow shaped noodles that look like a tiny macaroni.  

We would love to learn about the food traditions you have in your home (especially traditions that involve vegetables!). We hope you will comment below and tell us all about it.

Donor Profile: Champion Radish Club

The Champion Radish Club is currently made up of 61 generous individuals and families who donate monthly. They share our vision of a world with healthy, just, sustainable food practices and we’d love to introduce you to three of them!

RICHARD BANNER
A Champion Radish Club member since 2016, Richard Banner works with Polestar Communications Inc. as a writer and editor. He is the vice chair of the Growing Chefs! board of directors and has served on the board for over a decade.

CHRISTINA BOLISZCZUK & MIKE SHEARER
Christina was once a member of our staff team at Growing Chefs! and now works for Canuck Place Children's Hospice as a Major Gifts Officer. Mike is a Service Center Manager at Speedy Glass. The two have recently become first-time parents! They have been Champion Radish Club members since 2017.

RISA PAYANT
Risa is our newest Champion Radish Club member joining just this week! She works as the Executive Director of Common Weal Community Arts, a Saskatchewan arts organization and moonlights as an artist, a grant-writing consultant, and in a brewery. Risa is a mother of two.

What's your favourite seasonal vegetable?

Richard: I'm really enjoying the fresh asparagus this year. I like to think of the crisp green shoots pushing their way out of the ground and reaching up into the sunshine.

Christina: This is always tough to decide because I love pretty much all vegetables! Celery has always been a favourite since I was a kid for snacking - I still love ants on a log.

Mike: Corn on the cob!

Risa: I'm obsessed with zucchini. There's no dish that can't be made better with zucchini. Plus, I love growing monster zucchini in the garden every summer. I have the opposite of a green thumb, but the zucchini always pulls through!

What is your earliest food-related memory?

Richard: I remember the taste of green beans that I picked from the bushes in the back of my parent's home in Port Alberni. I didn't enjoy it then when I had to go out to the hot garden to pick the beans, but I still remember how good they were.

Christina: I have so many good food memories! When I was little we lived on a small hobby farm and my parents grew and raised most of our food. I feel quite lucky to have experienced this. When I was little we could walk out to the garden and pick fresh strawberries, carrots, and peas for snacks. Fresh always tasted just the best!

Risa: Eating dinner in the field during harvest. I feel like the smell of dirt and grain is nostalgic for everyone who grew up in a farming family. My prairie childhood is such a huge part of who I am and the most iconic memory is sitting in the bed of a pickup truck, covered in dust and eating classic farm meals with my Dad.

As a parent, what food values do you bring to your family?

Christina & Mike: We love to cook. We love making everything from scratch and consider ourselves fairly adventurous eaters. Having our daughter experience a wide variety of flavours when she starts on solid food is important because we want her to enjoy much of what we like and learn that there’s so much variety in food. When she is old enough we will have her join in the food prep/cooking experience as much as possible. Even toddlers can learn to help! Taking pride in the food you prepare makes you enjoy eating it so much more. It also helps to create a less picky eater which is always a bonus.

Risa: I think it's important to remember that food is what fuels us. It's so easy to succumb to thinking you need to make "kid food" (which is, inevitably, beige), but when you shift the conversation to filling your body with nutritious fuel, vegetables become magic. I also think it's crucial to let kids be a part of everything from grocery shopping to food prep to cooking. Meal times are family time and that extends well beyond just eating together.

How does being a part of the Champion Radish Club make you feel?

Richard: I'm happy that I can do a bit to help bring the Growing Chefs! program to kids in schools. I've seen how much fun kids have growing and eating healthy foods so I hope Growing Chefs! can bring the program to as many people as possible.

Christina & Mike: We love contributing to kids learning about healthy eating and being in the kitchen. It will benefit them their whole lives! Plus who doesn’t love digging in dirt and watching food grow? Growing Chefs! brings so much joy to the classroom and kids take those lessons home to their families.

Risa: So many kids in urban centres are growing up completely disconnected from their food. Growing Chefs! is doing important work in making sure kids in Vancouver understand where their food comes from and give them knowledge about what they put in their bodies.