Meghan - Spring Valley Middle School

Today was our presentation at Spring Valley Middle school which I was very excited about. I am noticing how much I like and how easy it is talking about food and educating others on options and resources in our area so I was hoping this was going to be the same.  I knew in advance that we were going into a non-traditional classroom where the students may not be in rows of desks with notebooks in hand and I was prepared for that. We knew in advance that there would be a maximum of 10 students in the class for our presentation and as such we had prepared a draft outline of what we wanted to go through but really we were just going to hopefully have a conversation with the students about where food comes from, what food we have locally and about our experience eating within 100 miles. This morning before heading out to the presentation I cleaned, cut and organized our food samples we were taking so that it would be easy for everyone to just help themselves as they wished.

When we arrived in the classroom everyone was doing their own thing; some students doing homework in a loft area, others putting up art on a board, yet another cutting out wood pieces for a model that they are working on and lastly one just hanging out reading. We were met by the principal teacher and were given a tour/introduction to the students as they continued to work on their tasks as a way of warming them up to our presence and see that we are approachable the open to interacting with them. We started by telling them a bit about what we were there for and how most food that we get has to come a long way to get here. We then talked about what it means to eat locally and asked them what food they liked as a way of breaking the ice. Then we started talking about how different foods have a culturally connection to their areas based on what food is available to them. Some of the students pointed out that they like pizza and we explained how many of the components to make pizza can actually be found in our local area. This gave us a way to explain a bit more about local food, talk about foods that are found locally and then introduce our BC food map. We all broke off and talked to different students about what the map shows and how you can learn from it. The student I spoke to found it very interesting to see how many food options there was in the lower mainland but also that we are very lucky with the quantity and options we have here. He pointed out how it must be hard from people that live in the areas where there was only one or two "commodities" (from looking at the map) and this gave me a great opportunity to talk about food deserts and how challenging it can be for some communities to access local food. We also talked about how we each can have a different definition of local and that it doesn't need to be the 100 miles that we used for our challenge but that having an awareness of where your food comes from is important. We talked briefly about food miles explaining that the distance from production to consumption can be a long ways and how sometimes it's better to buy something locally, even if it costs more because it is better for the enviroment and our local economy.

We then had a little tasting of the food that we had brought into the class. We explained what it was, when it's grown and how it can be prepared. Amy's small apples went over well and they started with those because they were familiar but with the encouragement of their teachers, the principal (who had dropped in) and us we were able to get all the students to try at least one but in most cases they tastes them all. They started to tell us a bit about the bistro they run and what they have learned from the experience. They shared that they had been on a field trip to a farm and they found it interesting and we were given a tour of their mini greenhouse grow operation where they have herbs and kale that they use in their food in the bistro or just enjoy during the day when they are hungry. The student I was talking to told me that he often forgets to take his iron pills in the morning and feels very low energy during the day and he like that he can just wonder into the "garden" and have some kale which helps him feel better (I left so good about this because some of the kale plants from my parents yard we had dug up and given to this class along with parsley and mint.

We were invited to come and see the bistro they run for the school, where they make up a few different options for meals and snacks. They were very proud to show us how and what they do in their bistro and you could clearly see that they were working well as a team to make a product that they supported. Everyone had their role and knew what to do without being asked so that was neat to see. They wanted us to taste their quinoa salad that they made along with a few dessert loafs which were all very tasty and we were happy to try.

Overall the class was attentive and interested in what we were presenting. I feel that bringing food in was a great way of engaging the students with different food options that they would normally not have eaten. I also feel that we all learned something from this experience, them about eating locally and us about how much students of this age do actually know about food. I feel that with awareness like we did through this class, it could make it possible for more dialogue about local food both in their homes and with friends. I know this experience has certainly done that for me.