Programs aim to connect schoolkids to their food, its preparation and origins

On The Coast food columnist Gail Johnson says elementary school students don't get enough opportunities to connect with food preparation and origins, but two independent programs want to change that.

The first, Project CHEF — Cook Heathy Edible Food — is the brainchild of local chef Barbara Finley. She started the program a decade ago because she was shocked by the things kids were bringing to school for lunches and snacks.

"Many were coming to school with nothing but a fruit roll-up and a can of Coke for lunch. She asked one student what she eats for breakfast and the answer was cookies," Johnson told On The Coast host Stephen Quinn.

Johnson got a chance to sit in on one of Finley's lessons earlier this year, where Grade 3 students at Strathcona Elementary made a tofu-veggie stir-fry with local, seasonal ingredients in a classroom that had been converted into a makeshift kitchen with electric frying pans.

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"The kids were completely rapt," Johnson said. "Part of the lesson includes sitting down together to enjoy the food the kids have just prepared. They take time to savour it, to eat without rushing and to talk around the table, all of which are missing elements in so many people's lives these days."

The other program Johnson highlighted is Sprouting Chefs, founded by certified organic master gardener Barb Koyanagi MacMahon last year.

McMahon consults with schools throughout the Lower Mainland that want to set up their own edible garden plots. Sprouting Chefs also offers summer camps where students learn how to plant, grow, and harvest vegetables and fruit as well as how to prepare and cook them.

"Being in the garden gives kids a chance to connect with nature, and that teaches them about the importance of taking care of the environment," Johnson said. "McMahon says growing your own food also teaches kids about patience. So gardening becomes a springboard for much bigger conversations."

"McMahon says she remembers a group of Grade 1 kids picking spinach leaves, and they couldn't get enough. They kept asking for more. And they love getting their hands dirty."

Johnson says both of these programs face one major problem: funding. Neither receives government or school board funding, and both founders spend a lot of time seeking money and grants to meet demand for the programs.

Sprouting Chefs, for instance, is holding its first official fundraiser on June 11, at the Burnaby Lake Rowing Pavilion from 1-4 p.m. where kids will be giving cooking demonstrations and David Suzuki will be the keynote speaker.

With files from CBC Radio One's On The Coast