Webinar Recap: Connecting to Culture through School Food

food systems advocate/parent volunteer program lead at École Notre Dame des Monts in Canmore, Alberta

• Avni is leading a nutritious hot lunch program, in its third year, at a small K-12 Francophone school in Canmore, Alberta. There are about 200 students at the school 
• The sign-up program is run by parent volunteers whose exciting energy helps make it all happen, including parents from France who approached Avni about starting a food program in the first place. 
• Since the school only has a small kitchen, Avni connected with local Indigenous Chef Damian Liengme, who owns and runs Mountain Fire Foods, to help prepare the food off-site in his commercial kitchen.
• Avni sources the ingredients — locally as much as possible — comes up with the menu ideas, and then she and Chef Damian go back and forth on creating the menu. They now have an inventory of menu items they cycle through, and introduce new ideas when they can.
• Avni says they are evolving cuisines, and that culture shines through the menu – Avni brings in South Asian cuisine, Chef Damian brings Indigenous cuisine, and, being a Francophone school, there’s of course French cuisine. They have fun bringing these cuisines together and introducing the kids to many new foods. E.g. On one recent menu, Chef Damian repurposed rajma, an Indian kidney bean dish, as “Indian chili”, and the students loved it.
• The day before each meal is served, they email parents a description of the menu, often including a story about the dish, the farmers, and/or where the food is from. 
• Like many school food programs, theirs is made possible by piecing together funding from various sources, including one of our Farm to School Canada grants. The program also receives invaluable support from the Bow Valley Food Bank.

Chef and educator at Guilford Park Secondary in Surrey, BC

• Chef Nimmi leads a small teaching kitchen in Surrey, BC, where the class prepares diverse meals for 350 high school students—with no recipes—in 45 minutes. 
• Students learn important culinary skills, while also getting the opportunity to create things native and culturally-appropriate to them, from scratch. Students can bring in ideas and inspiration of their own; some meals are inspired by great grandmothers’ recipes. It is love that is passed down, says Chef Nimmi.
• The day of the webinar, for example, they made Filipino steamed cakes with fresh yams. Some other examples? Butternut ravioli with boar, masala duck stir fry, or paella with local BC prawns and mussels.
• Chef Nimmi describes it as taking traditional authentic food, and marrying in different ingredients to switch things up, allowing the students to put their own take on things. This leads to deeper connections with their own cultures, while learning about other cultures, too. And a perfect attendance record proves the students love it!
• The program is a recent recipient of one of our Farm to School Canada grants, has partnered with Agriculture in the Classroom BC’s Fruit & Vegetable Nutrition Program, and they try to work with as many local farms as possible to bring in local sustainable ingredients.
• They also use ingredients from the school’s edible garden, which recently provided them with an almost 5-pound horseradish that inspired some horseradish ice cream, oil, whipped cream and butter. 

Lord Roberts Elementary School LunchLAB in Vancouver, BC

• LunchLAB is a PWYC (pay-what-you-can) in-school meal program in Vancouver, BC, that serves nourishing, culturally-relevant lunches prepared by students with the mentorship of a team of chefs-in-residence. Currently, the program feeds 200+ students every Tuesday and Thursday at Lord Roberts. Some prep is done in an off-site commissary kitchen and, for each meal service, Chef TJ and students turn a multi-purpose classroom into a pop-up kitchen for final prep and service.
• Chef TJ began their presentation with the reminder that it’s important for us to embrace Canada’s multiculturalism through food. He encourages a more thoughtful approach to what we can offer kids in school.
• Brent then shared a video clip of some students excitedly talking about how awesome it is to try new things at LunchLAB, meet new people, and learn about “foods from every country.”
• Lord Roberts is a large urban multicultural school, where over 45 different languages are spoken; Brent explains that the students already have implicit knowledge, so let them have a say, let them play around with flavours, and let them create something out of nothing. Some examples from their menus? Chicken adobo (one of their biggest sellers), and a Three Sisters soup.
• Their presentation highlighted the section of the Food Guide that states “healthy eating is more than the foods you eat”, and how it’s important to reinforce positive connections to food. School food can play a part in recognizing this, by not just teaching about health but also culture. And it becomes even more meaningful when students can share these meals together.
• By celebrating our differences, it makes everyone feel seen, Chef TJ says. Brent adds that when you invite in and value kids’ identity, culture and voice, the sky’s the limit.
• LunchLAB is a partnership with Growing Chefs, and is also made possible thanks to involved parents, teachers like Brent, and support from a few different funders, including Farm to Cafeteria Canada.

Top tips shared:

• Start small – If you can get funding for even one meal or a small pilot, it can help set up your processes and inspire other organizations to join. You’ll also learn a lot just by starting!
• Show off – Host events open to the community to show what you’re accomplishing. People want to get involved when they’re inspired. And students are great advocates for the programs, so let them show it off!
• Connect – Partnerships are key. Search for programs, organizations, farms and/or chefs to partner with. Work with families to bring in cultural traditions. Let students have a say. Get the kids involved and give them power in the classroom and kitchen.