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Project CHEF mixes children and seniors

Wholesome food and education on program’s menu

Bent over clipboards, pencils clutched in their hands, four Grade 4 and 5 students asked their white-haired subject about her family, favourite foods and dining customs at the swish Tapestry retirement residence at the University of B.C. Wednesday morning.

Grade 5 student Robert Shen perked up when senior Norma Kavanagh told the group, “We didn’t have these fancy dishwashers.”

Shen told Kavanagh they didn’t have fancy dishwashers in China, either. He said his father found them too noisy and that they took too long.

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Project CHEF creator Barb Finley and students Jessica Lee and Loren Eisses hold a tray of biscuits ready for the oven. Photo Dan Toulgoet

Two Grade 4/5 classes from Queen Mary elementary visited Tapestry at Wesbrook Village Wednesday mornings this month with the non-profit program Project CHEF: Cook Healthy Edible Food. Half of each class interviewed seniors downstairs and the other half learned about ingredients, kitchen tools and baking techniques from Barb Finley, the teacher and chef who created Project CHEF, in a demonstration kitchen upstairs.

Tapestry resident Eleanor Lee proposed Project CHEF teach kids in the well-appointed kitchen in the seniors’ home after she volunteered with Project CHEF at University Hill elementary last year.

The 75-year-old retired home ec teacher has felt satisfied seeing the interactions and stories shared between the generations.

The intergenerational project is the newest of four programs developed by Project CHEF, which partners with the Vancouver School Board to teach children about wholesome food.

“This is a really important piece of food education that is being lost,” Finley said. “Traditionally, families cooked together, ate together and learned about food together… Nowadays, our lives are so fast-paced that we rarely cook together or cook at all, in some cases, and rarely spend time around table.”

Finley said studies have found that families who eat together consume healthier meals and their children perform better in school and are less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol.

Project CHEF provides a one-week program for Grades 4 and 5 students, a longer program that reaches every kindergarten to Grade 7 class in one school, and last spring, it piloted an after-school cooking program for children and families in need and equipped them with ingredients to replicate recipes at home.

Since launching in 2007, Project CHEF has taught 8,700 children and directly involved more than 4,800 parent and community volunteers, all without money from the school board, provincial or federal governments. The non-profit’s funding and in-kind donations come from a variety of sources.

“That’s a struggle,” Finley said.

The fresh scent of apples filled the air Wednesday morning as nine- and 10-year-olds whipped up apple sage biscuits.

They chopped, measured and deciphered directions together.

“Today we’re learning about social education, emotional education,” Finley said. “We’re looking at math skills. We’re looking at reading recipes and we’re looking at teamwork.”

Nine-year-old Claire Joyce particularly enjoyed interviewing seniors.

“It’s important to know people better so that you don’t judge them,” she said.

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Queen Mary elementary students interview Norma Kavanagh. Photo Dan Toulgoet

Finley said food opens the floodgates to all kinds of connections.

“We had a gentleman here and he was just watching and I asked him if he wanted to join us. He said, ‘No, I’m just enjoying the smell. There are so many memories with the aroma of food and the smell reminds me of apple spice cake my wife used to make,’” Finley said. “So it’s equally powerful for the children and the seniors, because everyone benefits when you’re together as a community.”

This story has been modified since it was first posted.

crossi@vancourier.com

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