A professional chef visits the classroom and provides fun, interactive experiences for students through hands-on food preparation, tastings, exploration and discussion.
Students usually prepare a salad or stir fried veggies made from local ingredients. They learn how to become “food pioneers” by trying new foods and learning where their food comes from. Chef in the Classroom is EFP’s signature program and has been experienced by students in over one dozen school districts throughout the northwest.
The following activities are offered as part of a Chef in the Classroom experience:
FOODSHED; WHO'S SHED
Students receive a lesson on our region’s food shed and learn what the term “local” actually means. They learn how to become “food explorers” as they research and map our local food shed and compute how far average food travels.
TASTE, TALK AND TRY
Students taste a variety of foods from different spectrums such as sweet, sour, salty and bitter in order to learn about the science of taste and how taste buds and the olfactory system work. They learn about food combinations and are encouraged to try new foods. Students track their experiences in food journals. This experience is designed to “wake up” students’ taste buds!
SEASONS, CYCLES AND SEEDS
This program provides students with an understanding of seasons and cycles while exploring the impact of weather conditions on farming and the environment. Students gain an appreciation of the food cycle specific to our region and gain a deeper understanding of food origin and planting cycles along with the natural cycle of seed life. Classes can be provided with a seed tray and grow light for sprouting transplantable foods for a home or school garden.
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"Chef in the Classroom is an invaluable resource for my students. We spend time talking about good health, environmental concerns, maintaining our school garden, and earth friendly resources for ourselves and our families. Chef Tom brings it all to life, and helps kids see the real application of our classroom studies. When he helps kids "taste with their senses" and talks to us about our "food-shed" my students are able to internalize why we must act on being healthy people. Too many kids learn from the internet, books, or lectures; more kids need to learn by doing. Chef Tom understands that and is working hard to make sure that all children in the Puget Sound area know where food comes from. I have invited him into my classroom for the past two years, and I hope we will have many more years with his wonderful program."
Grace Dublin
5th Grade Teacher
Laurelhurst Elementary School
Seattle Public Schools
"I want to say that over the years your visit has really become a cornerstone for a broader look at where our food comes from, how we use resources to get it to our houses, and how we can be more responsible with our food shed. Since then, we've incorporated a composting program, a vegetable garden at the school, visits from Beecher's to talk about "whole foods", a visit to the district's central kitchen to see how our school lunches are prepared, field trips to local streams to talk about watershed management, a visit to the Cedar River Watershed to learn about our water source, service learning field trips to help with erosion control in local parks near our watershed, and I'm sure I'm forgetting other things. So what I'm trying to say is that your program has helped spur us into action on many, many fronts in all sorts of activities that all contribute to learning about issues surrounding a healthy Foodshed. So thank you.
Patrick Howard
5th Grade Teacher
Laurelhurst Elementary School
Seattle Public Schools |
