Last month, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Center for Urban Education and Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA) and its Foodwise Kids program. Foodwise Kids is an immersive educational program available free to public school grades 1 through 5 that takes place at the San Francisco Ferry Building Famers Market on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 am to 12:30 pm or 10:45 am to 1:15 pm. Bay Area educators can sign up here to participate.
Don't Yuck My Yum!
Now, I have never been in front of a group of students before as an educator and I was nervous! I shadowed Chef Sarah (that’s what the volunteers are called, Chef not Sarah) for a day back in September. She made it look so easy!
Since I am creating an education program that introduces plant-based foods to kids, I took notes of tips they offered!
One tip that I learned, when introducing new foods to a group of students, the “Don’t yuck my yum” rule can work wonders! Sweet Peppers were on the menu so each student got to try a cooked slice and a fresh slice. Half of the students had never tried Sweet Peppers before so setting that ground rule was important to ensure everyone would not be judged. It also teaches manners and respecting others in a civilized setting.
Most students liked one more than the other. A couple students really didn’t like the cooked one, which they respectfully threw in the compost bin. One student that had never tried Sweet Peppers loved the raw one. He said that he was going to ask his parents for this as a snack.Mission accomplished!
Personal preferences to foods are diverse. Added to that, sugars and processing of many foods we find in our homes today, it is important to recognize that adopting more fruits and vegetables is a process.
After we finished the sampling, I got to take the students to the Farmer’s Market where we collected our own basket of goodies to prepare a couple snacks.
Our menu of items…
Broccoli
Strawberries
Butter Lettuce
Apple
The students decided we should make a salad with the strawberries and lettuce. We roasted the broccoli and the apple got a dash of cinnamon. All great and healthful snacks that can be made by the students with minimal help from an adult. They all seemed to enjoy the preparation work, which did involve safety knives. The students took their jobs very seriously. Chopping the lettuce and removing the stems from the berries, seemed to be a fun project.
The kids took turns seasoning the Broccoli with pepper, salt and olive oil. Later the kids decided to name their Broccoli dish “Broccoli Man” for the cool hair Broccoli has. What a rad moment!
My takeaways from the event....
Kids are smart and they love to be engaged with new educational mediums with their friends.
They also love trying new things when given the opportunity and engagement with energetic educators and parents.
Even if that means trying Broccoli.
Peace Out!
Meagan
