Mixing Food Memories with Nutrient-Dense Foods
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 10:32AM In the spring, I met 63 four and five year old children who would become my summer culinary arts students. Most of these children did not attend early care and education programs. This innovative six week summer program is designed to help these young children gain the skills they need to enter kindergarten in the fall. My role is to create a linked educational opportunity through garden, culinary arts and farm.
Giving children the life skill of nutrient-dense eating is my goal as a chef educator to young children. The cycle of healthy eating can be understood simply as: pause, taste and learn! My culinary arts programs are designed to use food in the form closest to how it’s found in nature. The foundation of these culinary arts programs is based on teaching children to recognize and prepare foods that have a high nutrient/low calorie ratio—meaning they are rich in nutrients when compared to their calorie content.
Through the school garden, culinary arts and the twice weekly tastes from Webb Ranch, I encourage these children to eat from the rainbow while enjoying local seasonal organic fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes.
We have harvested from our school garden: zucchini, beans, lettuces, basil, parsley, chives, nasturtiums, marigolds and radishes. We have tasted from our farm partners: white nectarines, apricots, strawberries, blackberries, cherries, blue lake beans, Santa Rosa plums, summer squash (patty pan, zucchini & crock neck), Roma tomatoes, cucumbers, long beans, bok choy, onions (green, red, white and yellow), carrots, edamame, garlic, ginger, yellow pear tomatoes and watermelon. We all went riding on the big yellow school buses to Webb Ranch to pick raspberries one glorious day in early July. We have cooked with oats, whole wheat flour and flakes, masa harina, buckwheat, barley and rye. We have sorted, soaked and cooked our dry beans—and in the process we have mixed food memories to last a life time.
Reader Comments (1)
Luck kids. Love to know some details so I can do this at home.