Project Chef teaches local kids about healthy food choices

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A program teaching kids about healthy food choices is making the rounds in Vancouver schools.

Two classes with about 60 elementary students are taught for several days with the kids cooking culturally diverse recipes using fresh, non-processed food according to teacher and Chef Barb Finley.

“The thrust of the [Project Chef] program is to teach kids about healthy eating and how they have the power to make this food themselves. So we teach them where food comes from, what food tastes like, how they can prepare and about sharing it around a table,” she explains.

“Everything is hands on, they prepare it, they cook it at cooktops, they share it around the table, they clean up, they wash dry put away dishes. We talk about the pleasure of sharing around a table. The whole idea of sharing conversation and good food.”

The equipment is then packed up and the program is ready to move to another school.

Project Chef also runs a yearly residency, remaining in a school for a longer period of time and focusing on working with staff to incorporate healthy living into the curriculum. “By the time we leave the in-residence program at Laura Secord Elementary, we will have hit 10,000 students.”

The non-profit program is funded by a combination of grants, sponsorships and donations with a portion coming from schools and parents.

 

 

  • Project CHEF platoons into a school for a one week period to teach four or five lessons to students from kindergarten to grade seven.
  • The program is designed to support student learning outcomes from B.C. Ministry of Education Integrated Resource Packages.
  • The program focuses on teaching children knowledge, skills and attitudes to promote healthy cooking and eating and emphasizes the development of cooperative learning skills.
  • The program can be run in any classroom with a sink and easy access to a fridge. Seven cook stations are set up in the room each consisting of a cook-top, electric frying pan and a bin of small wares.
  • Classes are two and a half hours in length which allows time for the entire cooking process, from preparation to clean up.
  • The lesson structure includes a lesson and demonstration taught by the chef-teacher followed by hands-on cooking in six small groups, supervised by the chef-teacher, classroom teacher, assistants, parent volunteers and volunteers from the community.
  • The children cook culturally diverse recipes using fresh, non processed food that incorporates a variety of cooking skills, food-related knowledge and that are consistent with Health Canada’s Canada’s Food Guide. The group then sits down to enjoy the pleasures of sharing food around a table.
  • Two classes (approximately sixty children) are taught each day for four or five consecutive days and then the equipment is packed up and the program is ready to move to another school.
  • Project CHEF In Residence Program expands on the regular Project CHEF program by remaining in a school for a longer period of time and teaching children from kindergarten to grade seven. Healthy eating becomes a school focus and the goals of the program are integrated through class lessons and school activities.

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