Have you been yearning to create an afterschool program that teaches kids about food but don’t have the time to create something from scratch? Or maybe you’ve been wanting to incorporate more food education elements into your kids programming but don’t know where to start. We might have just the program for you. There’s a new kids food program in town and its called ‘Plants to Plates’. It’s coming to you this October!

Attention! Attention! All you teachers, parents, youth group leaders, after-school program volunteers, summer camp managers or community garden coordinators this ones for you.

Soon to be released, a complete 10 session facilitator’s guide filled with fun & educational activities, recipe ideas, garden activities, evaluation recommendation and more! Not a foodie? No problem. This Plants to Plate facilitator’s guide is crafted in a way to be accessible to everyone and includes conversation prompts and ‘Educator’s Background’ notes to bring you up to speed on each sessions’ food topic. We believe in the importance of teaching kids about food and we hope this guide will make it easier for people like you to do so.

What is Plants to Plates?  Building on programs we’ve run in the past like the Good Food First Club and Pele a la Fourchette, we are creating a program that has a Field to Fork approach with the goal of building food literacy. What this means in practical terms, is that every session, kids spend time in the kitchen and garden learning how to prepare and grow food. Each week also has a special theme and focuses on different element of food literacy.

Our goal with this program, is to allow kids to improve their hands-on food skills and build their confidence in preparing food. As well, our aim is to give kids enough background knowledge to make healthy food choices in the future.

And to have fun! This isn’t desk work. The Plants to Plates program is filled with interactive activities and games. We also have included ideas for conversation starters to encourage deeper group dialogue. The focus is to make program as hands-on as possible.

Have I piqued your interest? I hope so. Look for the Plants to Plates facilitators’ guide on the EAC website this fall.

The Development of the Plants to Plates Program is supported by Community Food Centres Canada, Child & Youth Innovation grants