In a Nutshell: Junior Chef Summer Camp

Food and cooking is so much more than having a full belly; it’s a tangled web. Pull one string of the web and it’ll lead you in different directions—from culture and immigration, to food equity and access, to local food and precarious food systems. 

I was thinking about this tangled web of food when we launched Junior Chef Summer Camp in late June. The six-week pilot program took place on Friday afternoons at North Valley Food Bank. Along with our mighty team of culinary volunteers, we welcomed young chefs ages 3 through 11 to the food bank to learn about cooking and nutrition.  

Each week, we welcomed the chefs to class with a “taster,” a snack that might be unfamiliar to them. Taking inspiration from the bounty of glorious local produce we get in the summer months, we tried kale and beet chips, kohlrabi French fries, spinach hummus, and fennel salads. Then, once hands were washed and aprons were tied, we jumped into cooking.  

Our chefs gained confidence in the kitchen by learning knife safety, how to read a recipe and measure wet and dry ingredients, how to hone their palates by tasting and adjusting their meals for the right amount of salt, acid, and spice, and finally, all about the science of baking. We also covered nutrition topics, learning about the cornerstones of healthy eating through activities such as “MyPlate” and “Think your Drink.” 

We explored food waste through making bread waste pasta, utilizing stale bread that might otherwise be composted (and learned about composting too!). We thought about how culture is passed down through families through food. Campers interviewed family members about food memories, from banana milkshakes out of a Mickey Mouse cookbook to great grandma’s sixteen spice spaghetti. We dove into the sensory experience of cooking—smelling lemon verbena and mint picked from the food bank’s greenhouse, squishing and squashing honeyberries for a chia seed jam, rolling out funky noodle shapes, and hearing naan bread sizzle on the stovetop. On our menu throughout the six-weeks were zucchini muffins with jam, quick pickles with local beets, and chickpea curry (accidently spicy from one too many spoonfuls of cayenne!) with cucumber raita. For our final class, the chefs made homemade pizza topped with many veggies, and we invited friends and family to celebrate their accomplishments. Throughout it all, we wanted to encourage the young chefs to trust themselves and to learn what they liked and didn’t like in the kitchen—did they like food that was spicy, salty, crunchy, bitter, juicy, or sweet? 

Inspired by the Junior Chefs, I, too, have grown. Emboldened by their “brave tasting” of unfamiliar foods, I have found that I am letting go of childhood dislikes. Maybe I can become a mushroom lover after years of adamantly avoiding all things mushroom related?! 

Sitting down at the table and sharing a meal is a powerful thing. Coming from a social work background, rather than a culinary background, I found it important to explore how cooking with kids could utilize the backbone of social emotional learning by building agency and self-expression, fostering connection and relationships, and incorporating mindfulness. Classes took place at the food bank, and being mindful of the location, I wanted classes to prioritize joy and connection. Recognizing that food banks have a long history of shame and stigma, it was important that these classes addressed the trauma related to food insecurity by building healthy relationships to food. When a young camper looked up at me while dicing a tomato and said “I’m having fun at the food bank,” I knew we were on the right path.  

We will continue to prioritize joy and build relationships in the kitchen by launching a cooking class this fall for young adults. Over the course of six weeks, we will learn how to nourish ourselves on a limited budget. I’m so excited to taste all the delicious food we will make together! 

Are you interested in volunteering to support our kids and teens through cooking skills and nutrition education? Join us at our next volunteer community meetup on September 6th from 6-8pm at City Beach, Gazebo #2, to learn more about our programs and ways to get involved!