I am revving up for Food Revolution Day May 15th, a day about bringing awareness to the real food cause, inspiring people to get back in the kitchens to cook, and having some real food discussions and fun! My mission this year is to get as many schools to participate as possible and get people to sign our petition to bring food education back into the school curriculum.
I have been eyeing Northview Heights Secondary School for a
long time since I saw that they ran a full-fledged culinary department when the
twins were there in the fall for weekend gymnastics. I just knew when Food Rev
Day came around that I would definitely reach out to them to participate. I
called the head of the department, Chef Dimitra Konstantakou, and was met with
enthusiasm and excitement! In fact, how Chef Konstantakou runs the culinary
program, meeting curriculum expectations, is the poster school for everything
Food Revolution stands for!! Their 176 enrolled grades 10 to 12 students along
with three teachers, seven program assistants and student volunteers cook
everything from scratch every day to make the lunch meals served in the school
cafeteria — to 1500 students! And when I mean scratch-cooking, it's everything
from fresh bread from the baking class and fresh pasta, down to stocks and
sauces like tomato, veloute, and condiments like mayonnaise, hummus and ketchup
(Jamie Oliver's recipe). She organizes field trips for students to see what other
food professionals are doing and invites colleges, well-known chefs and other
food educators to present at the school and to cook together. This gives the
students a wide scope of what they can do with food as a career choice and to
take pride in their cooking skills. She organizes activities often with
Northview’s family of schools, like Wilmington and CH Best Public Schools,
where the grade 3s and 4s come and participate in hands-on cooking, baking activities and gardening with the
welcoming culinary students.
Northview partners with Community Hub, their adjacent
community centre, to grow food in their shared community garden managed by
students and volunteers. And they partner with North York Harvest Food Bank
located in the school as a dignified space for food assistance. Specialist High Skills Major students worked
with public health nurses to develop a plan (based on the strategies of
innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship) to inform community members of
Toronto Food Truck, which delivers fresh produce.
As I happily learned, Chef Konstantakou is a Jamie Oliver
advocate. Last year, she attracted the attention of the London team with her
cooking club and was invited as a guest blogger. Colleagues in the baking class
bake up every morning Oliver's oatmeal cookie recipe tweaked into breakfast
bars (their best seller by the way) and everyone gets inspiration from Jamie
Oliver’s recipes all the time, which she uses and shares on her frequently
updated Flipped Classroom blog showcasing her students talents.
Grade 10 students making potato croquettes.
Credit: Chef K's Culinary Student Blog March 5, 2015 |
Grade 12 students filleting red snappers.
Credit: Chef K's Culinary Student Blog March 31, 2015 |
"Recipe Share" Cooking Class
Credit: Chef K's Culinary Student Blog March 30, 2014 |
I had the pleasure of spending the morning at the school today meeting the great staff running the department. This wonderful culinary program is run from the heart of a truly altruistic, empathetic and innovative food educator Chef K!
UPDATE: It is confirmed- the entire school body of 1500 students will be making Jamie's champion Squash-It Sandwich on Food Rev day! Read on for more.
UPDATE: It is confirmed- the entire school body of 1500 students will be making Jamie's champion Squash-It Sandwich on Food Rev day! Read on for more.
With Chef Konstantakou in Northview's school cafeteria. |
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