Growing Chefs! at Home: Lesson 8

Afton and Penny are back to talk all about salad! In this week's lesson you will learn what a recipe is, how to make a salad dressing from scratch and how mustard works as a magic emulsifier. You will also learn how to put together a salad that is full of all the good stuff your body needs to stay healthy and energized. 

For this lesson we recommend that kids and adults watch the video to get a basic idea of how a salad dressing and salad are made. Later, with the help of an adult, kids can make their own dressing and salad if they like. We have included our recipe for our Honey Vinaigrette and our recipe for Nutritious Salad below. These recipes will work with most types of vinegar, oil, greens and vegetables so use what you have at home and be creative. Please remember to closely supervise kids when they are working in the kitchen. 

Afton and Penny are back to talk all about SALAD! In this week's lesson you will learn what a recipe is, how to make a salad dressing from scratch and how mu...

Related Activities:

Make a Salad at Home

Our recipes for A Nutritious Salad & Honey Vinaigrette Salad Dressing 

Parts of a Recipe Video and Worksheet

Afton and Penny are back to tell us what a recipe is and teach us the different parts of a recipe. Head over to our blog at - to find a fun recipe building a...

Get familiar with the different parts of a recipe by matching each recipe section to the correct title in this cut and paste puzzle exercise.

Choose Your Own Adventure Recipe: Salad Dressing Worksheet

Make your own recipe for salad dressing. You choose the ingredients you like and write the recipe using our template.

Read: The Secret Weapon

A nutrition themed story about how a humble salad can give a soccer team the energy it needs to defeat their biggest rival. 

Thank you for joining us in the kitchen today. We hope you enjoy this tasty lesson! You can find this new online content here on our website, and we are making announcements about it on our social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). 

Thank you so much for your patience while we reinvent ourselves and our programs.

Identifying Soil Types: Becoming a Soil-ologist Activity

This week, Christine from our team has been talking all about soil and composting! If you missed her lesson on the components of soil and the importance of composting you can find it here in our Growing Chefs! at Home Lesson 7 post.

For a fun science experiment today we are going to explore the soil in our own gardens to see if we can learn more about the different components of this soil and see if we can identify different soil types just like a soil scientist!

In this activity, kids will learn about the different components that make up soil, and how to identify various soil types. It is important to be able to identify your soil type so that you are able to grow the plants that prefer that environment. If you don’t have the correct soil type to grow the plants that you want to grow, then you can add the nutrients and mix in additional soil content to make the perfect mix for your plants’ needs. You’ll notice that your seed packs often list the growing conditions for the different vegetables you are planting, see below images under the “growing” section.

Learning Objectives For This Activity:

• Understand the basic components of healthy, nutritious soil

• Identify the main soil types 

• Learn about why we need to examine our soil and that different plants prefer different types of soil

What is Soil?

Soil is a combination of water, air, minerals, and organic matter. Soil is at the top layer of the earth’s surface and can be thought of as a living thing, and as the ‘skin’ of the earth. People often refer to soil as dirt, but there is an important difference. Dirt is soil that has been misplaced on Earth, and no longer has any life left to feed plants. Dirt is something we can find under our finger-nails, or on our clothes after playing outside. 

Soil Types:

Clay Soil: Soil with a high clay content is considered a ‘heavy’ soil that is made up of tiny particles that can not be seen by your eye without a microscope. This type of soil has a smooth texture, which tells us that the tiny particles are packed very closely together and therefore the water drains through clay soils very slowly. Clay soil holds water so tightly, that it is hard for the plants to get a nice drink of water. 

You can tell if you have clay soil if you roll it into a ball in your hand, and the soil will hold its shape. 

Plants that like clay soil:

• Brassicas: cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts.  

• Some tall growing vegetables: beans, peas, and corn like tightly packed clay soil to help anchor their roots.

• Leafy greens: kale, chard, etc.

• Squash and pumpkins.

Sandy Soil: Sandy soil has small pieces of minerals that you can see with your eyes, and feel with your hands. Because this type of soil has texture that you can feel, and therefore tells us that there is space between the pieces of sand. This shows us that it allows water to drain through it quickly, which is important for plants that do not like to sit in water, and like to dry out in between having their drink of water. When soil allows for water to move through it quickly, that also means that nutrients move through the soil quickly as well. This would mean that in sandy soils, it may be hard for plants to soak up the nutrients. Sandy soils hold heat well, which helps many seeds grow in the Spring. 

Plants that like sandy soil:

• Root crops: potatoes, carrots, radishes, turnips, beets etc.

• Bulb plants: onions, garlic, etc.

Loamy Soil: Loamy soil contains high levels of organic matter, and is the ideal type of soil for growing mostly all fruits and vegetables. Loamy soil is well-balanced with sand, clay, silt and organic content. Having a nice mix of all of these elements gives plants all the benefits of each soil type, without many of the disadvantages. 

Remember, just like it is important for us to have a balanced meal with all of the food groups, soil should also have a well-balanced mix of ingredients (sand, clay, organic matter) as soil is the main source of food for plants. 

Soil-ologist Science Activity

Items needed:

• 1+ Glass Jars

• 2 or 3 soil sample(s) from your yard or garden

• Water

Activity Instructions:

For a fun science experiment today we are going to explore the soil in our own gardens to see if we can learn more about the different components of this soi...

1. Collect soil samples from as many different locations as you want in your growing space, for each sample you will need one glass jar (soil samples should be collected from 20cm deep in ground).

2. Place one soil sample into each jar.

3. Fill your with water, and place it on a flat surface.

4. Let the soil settle for a minimum of one hour.

5. Examine and identify the soil content using the guidelines below!

Here we can see that in:

• Soil Sample #1: The water is murky, and the soil has settled at the bottom, which tells us that there is heavy content in there such as sand and clay

• Soil Sample #2: The water is pretty clear, and the soil has most of its content at the top, but also some has settled at the bottom. This tells us that there is lots of organic matter, but also has some sand content.

• Soil Sample #3: The water is murky, and has soil floating at the top, but also has some that has settled at the bottom. This tells us that this soil sample has a nice balance of lots of organic matter, sand, and some clay content. 

Note: Soil Sample #3 is potting mix from the store that is specially made to have a nice balance of sand, clay and organic matter.

LOAMY SOIL: Large organic particles will float on top

CLAY SOIL: Fine clay and silt particles will settle in the middle

SANDY SOIL: Sand and small stones will settle at the bottom

If water is clear after soil settles: SANDY SOIL TYPE

If water is murky and cloudy after soil settles: CLAYEY SOIL TYPE

What soil type is in your jar?

Understanding Compost: Creating your own Soil-arium

This week is all about soil and the importance of composting.

Do you compost at home? Have you ever thought about what is actually happening in your compost? Christine teaches us how to make our own soil-arium at home so we can observe and track the decomposition process that occurs when we compost organic matter turning it into nutrient-rich soil for our plants! Join us!

Why is Composting so Important?

Composting is an important process that recycles the nutrients in food - to be reused to grow more food. When we throw our food scraps into the garbage we lose those nutrients forever. Not only are we throwing away very important nutrients, but food scraps in the landfill release something called methane gas which contributes to global warming. By composting, we are saving valuable nutrients that we can use to grow more nutritious food - and we are also helping to protect our environment.

A great example of composting takes place on the forest floor! We don’t see people going to clean up all the fallen leaves, trees, branches, etc. This is because decomposers (living organisms) such as worms, fungi, beetles, and bacteria help break down these materials. By creating a soil-arium or compost, we are building a home for decomposers to do their important work! Even if you can’t see these organisms, they are there and busy helping to create soil for us. It is important we give these living organisms the things they need to survive!

Learning Objectives

• Be able to explain what composting is and why it is important

• Understand how to start a basic composting system

• Learn about the life cycle of food

Activity Preparation

Items needed:

Glass jar

Food scraps

Dirt

Organic yard debris

Old newspaper or cardboard

Water

Tape and marker

Set-up

Little to no set-up is required. Find a sunny windowsill spot where the soil-arium can be observed throughout the composting process (approximately 12 weeks).

Activity Instructions

1. Add a small handful of dirt to the bottom of your glass jar.

2. Add a layer of shredded newspaper or cardboard.

3. Add a layer of kitchen scraps.

4. Add a layer of organic yard debris.

5. Repeat this order of layering until your jar is almost full to the top.

6. Add your water and then cap the top with holes poked in the lid.

7. Draw a line to mark the top of your original composting pile.

8. Add a little bit of water as needed, and stir daily to provide oxygen and move around the bacteria so they can find new food.

9. Every two weeks, draw a line to mark the new top as the composting process continues.

Observing Changes in Your Soil-Arium

The composting process will be different with each person’s soil-arium. The composting process can take several months, so we can make some observations during this time.

Measuring/Tracking Compost:

1. On Day 1 of your soil-arium, mark and measure the height from the bottom of the container to the top of the pile of compost.

2. Every week or two, you can re-measure, and note changes in the height of the compost as things decompose.

3. How much water are you adding?

4. How big are the pieces of food scraps that you have added to your compost? We can help speed up the composting process by breaking down what we add into smaller pieces.

5. How heavy is your soil-arium?

6. You may want to try making some predictions of what may happen in your soil-arium over time.

Making Observations of the Composting Process:

1. You may want to try creating a journal to record and keep track of what you have added to your soil-arium.

2. What changes are you noticing with your soil-arium? After a few weeks, can you still see and identify all the food scraps that you have added? 

3. Have some of the food scraps decomposed more quickly than others?

4. Can you see any flies, worms, or other insects in your soil-arium?

5. How does your soil-arium smell? Adding more dry browns to the top layer in the Soil-arium will help it from getting stinky! Adding more browns will slow down the composting process, but it also helps from ‘drowning’ the compost with too much moisture - which can kill the living organisms responsible for composting.

6. How does the texture of it feel in your hand? Remember, healthy compost should have a similar moisture to a wrung out sponge.

Compost Recipe

Remember that your compost is a living thing, and it requires our love and attention to make it thrive - just like a pet! It needs a balanced diet of browns and greens, air, and water (as needed). 

Now, it is your turn to go find some browns and greens to add to your soil-arium!

Growing Chefs! at Home: Lesson 7

Growing Chefs! staff member Christine is here to talk to you about the basics of soil and composting and why they are important for growing our food, and Chef Brennen from our volunteer team brings us into his backyard to introduce us to some of his friends.

Plus we’ve got two fun science experiments you can try at home to explore more about soil and compost!

Getting ready for exploring soil and composting - For this lesson, all you need is is your thinking cap!

Today we will talk about Soil and Composting. This is an introductory video to understanding what soil is, and why composting is so important. Not only for environmental reasons, but also for the added benefits of using compost as a delicious food for your plants at home. 

Now we know a little more about what components make up healthy soil, what compost is and why composting is important!

Below we have a great video for you with another of our incredible classroom volunteers - Chef Brennen! Brennen brings us into his backyard and introduces us to his worm farm!

Our Spring program is aimed at kids in grades 1, 2, and 3, but folks of all ages will likely learn something new! If it’s possible for an adult to be around during these lessons, that would be great. Our growing chefs might need their help a couple of times. We will let you know in the video when there are good moments to offer some help.

Related Activities:

Understanding Compost - Build your own at home Soil-arium and explore how compost breaks down creating nutrient-rich soil for our plants. Full activity outline and video found here.

Identifying Soil Type - Become a soil-ologist and examine the soil in your own yard and garden. Learn about the different components of soil and find out what grows best in each type of soil. Full activity outline and instructional video found here.

You can find this new online content here on our website, and we are making announcements about it on our social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). 

Thank you so much for your patience while we reinvent ourselves and our programs.

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!

How Plants Grow - Celery Experiment

This week, we are learning about how plants grow and how all the parts of the plant contribute to their growth. Here is a fun and easy way to demonstrate how the stem (also called a stalk or leaf stalk) of a celery plant carries water and nutrients all the way from its roots up to the leaves of even the tallest of plants.

You Will Need:

• A celery stalk (or two) with leaves still attached

• A cup or mason jar

• Water 

• Food Colouring (red or blue work best for this experiment)

Instructions: 

1) Cut the bottom inch off on the celery stalk.

2) Fill the jar about halfway up with water.

3) Add 5 or so drops of food colouring into the water (a few more drops if you have a larger vessel with more water).

4) Place the jar in a sunny location and wait 2 hours.

5) Observe the celery stalks. You may see the food colouring working its way up the stalk (moving through the xylem of the celery plant). Xylem are tiny tubes in the plant (like veins in our bodies) that move water from the roots to the leaves in a plant. Because we have added food colouring to the water, you should be able to see the colour as the water moves up the stalk toward the leaves.

6) Break off a small piece of the leaf stalk, you may see food colouring in the xylem.

7) Wait overnight. In the morning, observe your celery stalks and leaves. Did the food colouring make its way to the celery leaves?

Discussion Questions:

What happens to the water once it reaches the leaves?

• Some of the water is used by the plant’s leaves to make food through the process of Photosynthesis. Sunlight provides the energy for plants to make carbon dioxide (what we breathe out) and water into sugars (food) and oxygen (what we breathe in).

• Sometimes you might notice droplets of water on the ends of the leaves of a plant, this often is a good indicator for houseplants that the soil is very moist. When a plant has more water than it needs the leaves release some of this water to be evaporated into the air from its leaves. This process is called Transpiration and can actually help the plant take up more water.

How is the water and food colouring moving up the plant?

• The process of water moving from roots to leaves is called Capillary Action. Water molecules like to stick together and to the walls of the tubes that make up what is called a plant’s xylem. These tubes run from the plant’s roots, up the stem, and all the way up to their leaves. As water then evaporates from the leaves it pulls up more water from the roots helping water to move up the plant.

This week we’ve been talking about and learning the six different parts of a plant. In this activity, we learned about how the roots, stem, and leaves of a plant all work together to help it get the water it needs using a celery stem. When we eat celery we are eating the stem of the plant (also called a stalk or leaf stalk) of the celery plant.

• Think about what other stems, roots, flowers, seeds and leaves we eat on a regular basis. You may never look at your favourite vegetables in the same way! 

Expansion Activity:

Try using a large celery stalk and splitting it from the bottom to about halfway up the stalk. Place one half of the stalk into a container with blue food colouring and the other half into a container with red food colouring. What do you think will happen when the colour from each reaches the part of the stalk where the two halves are joined? What will happen when the colours reach the leaves?

Don’t forget to wrap up this experiment by enjoying a delicious celery snack. That’s right - this celery is still edible and yummy, so don’t let it go to waste!

Go Ahead and Get “Soily”: Ten Things Kids Learn in the Garden

Yesterday was a big day at my house, our windowsill garden started to SPROUT! We planted our seeds and waited... waited... waited. Just when we thought that maybe we did it wrong, POP, POP, POP, sprouts shooting up in all our pots (tomatoes, beans, and peas). Now you are probably thinking that this doesn’t sound very exciting, but two things: We have been socially isolating, so these sprouts are the only live “guests” we have had in a couple of months. We also have a 7-year-old kid, and the best thing about kids is that they appreciate how cool seeds and sprouts are. They are genuinely pumped to see those little sprouts pop out of the soil. Not only are these little sprouts adding some excitement to our life, but they are also an important part of the hands-on learning we are doing at home this spring.

What exactly might we learn from these sprouts? Here is a list:

Math: 

Counting, Patterns, Estimating, Measuring, Graphing, Calculating (volume, area and weight).

Easy “Peasy” Garden Math Activities:

• Count the seeds

• Make a pattern with seeds 

• Measure the growth of seedlings

• Graph the growth of a seedling over time

• Estimate the number of seedlings that will grow or how many (fruit/vegetables) we will harvest

• Calculate the weight of your harvest 

• Calculate the volume of soil you will need to fill planters

• Calculate surface area of a leaf  

Science: 

Seeds (and their parts), pollinators, water cycles, parts of the plant, senses and seasons (this list could go on forever). The garden is also the perfect place to conduct a little science experiment. 

Easy “Peasy” Science Experiment to try:

1) Plant seeds in three small pots label them as 1, 2 and 3:

• Give seed 1 just water (put it in a dark spot)

• Give seed 2 just sunlight (no water)

• Give seed 3 both sun and water

2) Make a hypothesis about what might happen.

3) Let the seeds grow for about 2 weeks. 

4) Keep a log of how all three seeds are growing and test your hypothesis.

* For older learners you could try other variables (feed one seed soda instead of water, play nice music for one seed, put one seed outside and one inside). 

Responsibility:

Watering, ensuring adequate sunlight, fertilizing and transplanting are great responsibilities that kids can take-on in the garden. Building a sense of responsibility will be useful in school, friendships, within your family, and in the community.  

Resiliency & Creativity:

One of the best opportunities for learning in the garden is when things don’t work out as planned. When things don’t grow (or they wilt, freeze, or overheat) kids have the opportunity to learn that it is ok to fail and also have the opportunity to think creatively to solve the challenge.

Appreciation:

An appreciation for the amount of planning, work, and care that is required to transform a seed to a fruit/vegetable. Even more appreciation for the farmers that grow food on a much larger scale.

Patience:

Remember the part at the beginning when I said that we waited ...waited ...waited? We only waited about a week, for a kid this might feel like an eternity, but it is a great way to practice being patient and a good reminder that instant is not always better. 

Ownership and Pride:

Kids will feel proud that they can tell their family, friends, and teachers about what they have cared for and grown. They might even get to share their harvest!

Go Ahead and Get “Soily”:

Soil, worms, and bugs sometimes get the bad rap as being, “eww - gross!”. Introducing kids to all the cool things soil, worms, and bugs do will make them more likely go ahead and get their hands soily. Science tells us that playing and working with soil is good for kids' mental and physical health. Grown ups too!

Dexterity:

Planting seeds, transplanting, digging, and harvesting are a great way to develop fine motor skills. This can be especially useful for younger gardeners. 

Discovery: 

Eureka! I see a tiny tomato! The garden is the perfect place to see many amazing things in action. It is a perfect place to discover shoots, buds, flowers, bugs, worms, fruit and vegetables. 

Blog Post written by Afton Bell of Growing Chefs!

Growing Chefs at Home: Lesson 6 - How do plants grow?

Chef Selma and her broccoli friend are back! This week, we will check in on our garden and chat about how plants grow! How is your windowsill vegetable garden doing?

Getting ready for this lesson

If you have a little windowsill garden going, make sure you are close to it for this video, because we will be talking about what you can see in the garden!

Materials needed for this lesson:

• Clean pair of scissors

• Colander or bowl

• Sheet of paper

• Pencil

• Coloured pencils or crayons

• Parts of a plant activity sheet (if you have access to a printer but not required to enjoy this lesson)

Today we’ll talk about plants, how they grow, and the different parts of a plant as well as think about some different vegetables and what part of the plant they might be. There are some exploring, writing, and drawing exercises in this lesson. You can expect this lesson to fill about 20 minutes. Be sure to keep scrolling past the video for some additional at-home activities!

Related Activities:

1. Get moving and stretch out with our follow-along video of our vegetable stretch!

2. How do the parts of a plant work together and how does water get from the roots to the leaves? Check out this simple science experiment we’ve outlined for you to do at home using a celery stem to track the movement of water up the plant to the leaves.

3. Our gardens are growing more and more every day now. We’ve got a fun BINGO game to get kids exploring in the garden and to teach them some new garden and plant-related words! A note that some of these terms are a bit more advanced making this a fun learning game for kids of all ages and adults alike! We’ve prepared 5 different bingo cards as well as a list of these new terms to explore here.

Our Spring program is aimed at kids in grades 1, 2, and 3, but folks of all ages will likely learn something new! If it’s possible for an adult to be around during these lessons, that would be great. Our growing chefs might need their help a couple of times. We will let you know in the video when there are good moments to offer some help.

You can find this new online content here on our website, and we are making announcements about it on our social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). 

Thank you so much for your patience while we reinvent ourselves and our programs.

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!