New Year's Resolution: Getting Kids into the Kitchen

Happy New Year from the Garden2Table team!

We hope that this year will bring lots of sunshine and great harvests in the gardens. We hope that the new year will also bring more opportunity for us to involve more children in our program and for them to bring home what they have learned and share it with their families.

It's never to early to get children involved in the kitchen and here are a few tested recipes that we have used that are easy, fun and delicious (as rated by the kids)!

Yummy Kale Salad (from Chef Jennifer)
1. Wash kale and pat completely dry with paper towel.
2. Remove kale leaves from stems; tear into large bite-sized pieces.
3. In a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and a dash of salt then mix well.
4. Refrigerate the kale over night. This will remove some of the bitterness.
5. Add your favourite toppings such as; raisins, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, blueberries, strawberries, oranges, quinoa or couscous... whatever you fancy!
6. Add any dressing, mix well and enjoy!

Tip for any homemade salad dressing- Remember the rule! 3 parts oil: 1 part vinegar

Banana Cereal Pops (great for snacks!)

All you need is:
- 2 bananas
- 1/4 cup of honey
- 1/2 cup of cereals
- 4 popsicle sticks

Peel the bananas and cut them in half. Insert the popsicle sticks in the bananas and dip the bananas in honey. Roll the bananas on your kid’s favourite cereal until they are fully coated (if the cereal is in big piece then we suggest crushing it up a little to help it stick better!).

Hopefully 2014 will be a year full of fond memories in the kitchen and the gardens!

Healthy Kids = Better Learners = Healthier Life = Stronger Communities

This week Garden2Table made an amazing connection with a group who's values about food, kids, and education align perfectly with ours! 

ActiveChefs is a non-profit organization committed to promoting and sustaining healthy living for school-aged children. They have developed a program that incorporates multicultural cooking, physical activity and community partnerships. 

After looking through their website, ActiveChefs is an inspiring group. The programs that they develop are set at an affordable price, even free. Cooking demonstrations, recipe creation, and grocery store trips are just a few of the educational activities these kids can experience. 

Some exciting highlights for ActiveChefs are:

ActiveChefs by the Numbers:
2011    Founded
2,875   Participants
 116     Programs
  31      Locations
 92%    Spending on Program Activities
  39      Volunteers & Instructors

After starting in 2011, ActiveChefs has made a huge impact all throughout Southern Ontario. Working with their sponsors and through grant funding, they have been able to support youth education on food and healthy lifestyles. After all, food is what sustains us. Why not set up future generations with the right tools and information to make healthy decisions? 

Check them out in the news here: http://www.insidehalton.com/photozone/1371588

“We’ve had the pleasure of working with ActiveChefs on three extremely successful school events focused on increasing parent involvement in our school while promoting healthy lifestyles for children.” -- Catholic School Council, St. Joseph School, Oakville, ON

Food Tube

As many of us know, Jaime Oliver is a bit of a food education "pioneer". His Food Revolution gained interest globally, and he has even started a Food Revolution Day to "stand up for real food".

More recently, on January 21st 2013, he launched Food Tube. A youtube channel specifically designed to showcase recipes that can easily be made at home. The channel presents chefs from all around the world making their favourite recipes.

Viewers are encouraged to ask questions on the channel and he will answer them throughout the show.

Check it out HERE!

As always, we encourage you to keep learning, discovering, and eating great food!

Cheers,
Emily

A Food Revolution

"Your child will live a life ten years younger than you because of the landscape of food that we’ve built around them.” (Jamie Oliver)

Many of us here share a common interest: food. However, we're not just interested in eating or trying the latest recipe featured on epicurious.com or foodgawker.com; our interests go much deeper than that. The reason Garden2Table exists is to educate our community about where our food comes from, and how to eat healthily and sustainably. In Guelph, and at the University of Guelph, we have more resources than most cities, provinces, states or countries. We have the knowledge, skills, abilities and tools to allow us to live sustainably. 

The Guelph Centre for Urban Organic Farming and Garden2Table have partnered to teach the youth of the community about the importance of understanding where food comes from; influencing their food choices by reconnecting them with earth's resources and how simple, easy, and important it is to plant, grow, harvest, and prepare their own food. 

Most of you have seen the video or heard of Jaime Oliver's Food Revolution. As we approach our first garden visit, I started thinking about just how crucial it is for these students to learn about the food they eat. Many families don't understand the importance of healthy meals and snacks and it is up to us to help make a difference. 

Check back next week to find out about our first visit

A Moving Case for 'Real Food'

I was recently linked a TedTalk video featuring a talk by Robyn O'Brien. It was an intriguing talk centered around Robyn's personal history with food, and how she became such an evangelist for 'Real Food'. Have a look:

Obviously a very informative and inspiring talk, Robyn opened my eyes to a different aspect in the food industry, and why consuming 'Real Food' really should be an imperative; especially for children. This new perspective was on the affect of mass-produced foods on our health in terms of allergies/intolerance's. How many of us, in the restaurant industry, can attest to the fact that the number of guests coming in with allergies/intolerance has seemingly increased on a steady incline? I would bet that many restaurateurs would agree with this notion. It's certainly something I've noticed within my limited experience.

It's made clear by Robyn that the addition of proteins and enzymes to our food supply makes perfect business sense in terms of making the business model more efficient/profitable for large food production companies; however, just because it makes more business sense, does it make health sense? Could these additions into our food supply be the reason for the increasing amount of food consumption ailments being realized within the North American population? Robyn O'Brien thinks so, and she makes an excellent, well informed case for this belief.

Stay tuned for an incoming post regarding G2T's involvement with the University of Guelph's College Royal weekend-wide event!

Garden2Table ~ SP