The source for children's culinary education.

Agriculture Literacy Day 2013

By the Numbers… Agriculture Literacy Week 2013

26 schools
96 classrooms
5 boroughs
2,356 students
1 high school partnership
34 volunteers
100% of books donated (Cornell Cooperative Extension and Random House)
24 jars of honey donated (Let it Bee Honey)
0 sick or late volunteers

Hope reads The HoneyBee Man to a group of 2nd graders.

 

High School students from Abraham Lincoln High School read to 2nd graders at PS 102 in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

 

Sonya reads to second graders at PS 42 in Manhattan.

 

Sequencing the steps in the production of NY honey.

 

More sequencing!

A future beekeeper?

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“The World Begins at a Kitchen Table”

A dear friend of mine sent me this poem.  It sums up much of what Spoons is about. Wishing you all a joyous Thanksgiving.

Perhaps the World Ends Here

The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.
The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on.
We chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe at the corners. They scrape their knees under it.
It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human. We make men at it, we make women.
At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers.
Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children. They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back together once again at the table.
This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.
Wars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place to hide in the shadow of terror. A place to celebrate the terrible victory.
We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for burial here.
At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks.
Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.

“Perhaps the World Ends Here” from The Woman Who Fell From the Sky by Joy Harjo. Copyright © 1994 by Joy Harjo.

Healthy Eating Advocacy in Action- Volunteer Spotlight

Congrats to Spoons volunteer and former Program Leader Sonya Alonge for taking steps to make Halloween healthier this year in her community. “I enjoy taking my sons each year to the local YMCA for the annual Halloween party,” Sonya explained  “but I was concerned about the amount of sweets and candies available to the kids. So I challenged the Y to send a different message. Let’s use Halloween to show families HOW to change eating habits and make healthier, fun snack choices.” Sonya was elated to see they listened. This year’s Halloween party menu featured cups of chilled fresh grapes, popcorn with Chex cereal, sautéed chicken wings and bottled water. Even the gift bag give-aways had half the amount of candy of previous years.

“Honestly, it made me realize that one person, acting on one idea can really make a difference. Each of us is a change agent and together we can make healthy eating for our kids a way of life.”

Thank you Sonya for all the work that you do for Spoons and for the passion you bring to teaching children, their families, AND their communities about healthy eating and good choices.

Want to be a change agent too? Volunteer for Spoons Across America!

Take a Taste with Spoons: Photos from Day 2

On Tuesday, volunteers from Spoons Across America visited 10 more classrooms across the city to teach 3rd graders about the elements of taste and eating locally. One of our goals is to help students to have a healthy and happy relationship with food and to create lasting, positive food memories. Apples taste sweet and sometimes a little sour, but maybe they also taste like a cool fall day at your Aunt’s house….or perhaps they make you think of dunking for apples as a child… Maybe, for these kids, they’ll remember the time that a caring adult came to their school just to share something they cared about with them. Food memories are important things and we take them with us wherever we go in life.

Some more pictures from our classes…

The ingredients for the elements of taste.

What does it look like?

What does it smell like?

What does it taste like?

He LOVES the apples!

I think they like the apples!

Happy Kids!

Take a Taste with Spoons: Photos from Day 1

Take a Taste with Spoons kicked off a week of programming today at several schools across New York City. Students explored the elements of taste and sampled locally grown apples donated by Briermere Farm in Riverhead, New York on Long Island (really local- only 75 miles away!). A few pictures…..

Take a Taste supplies are ready to go!

Good scientists take notes on what they observe and experience.

Some tastes may surprise you!

…and not all “tastes” are tasty! But can you describe it?

Some will like it, and other will not…But “don’t yuck someone’s yum”!

Thank you to our volunteers….

…we couldn’t do this important work without you.