Fit2Cook4Kids: Learning the Basics

I am so excited to spend my summer working with Fit2Cook4Kids, a summer camp that empowers middle school children to stay active, eat healthy and communicate effectively! 

I could not have picked a better program to team up with during my year of service.  According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity has nearly tripled in the last three decades and continues to be on the rise. As a health and fitness professional, I feel it is my personal responsibility to educate others on the importance of healthy eating and daily activity. These are habits that need to be instilled in our youth at a young age in order to create positive behavior changes. Fit2Cook4Kids is the PERFECT program to make these changes in our youth today.

There are so many beneficial components of this program that I don't know where to begin! The summer camp incorporates healthy cooking lessons with culinary chefs, nutrition lessons, fitness classes and a variety of communication skills.

Today we arrived at Saint Philip School in Greenville for our first day of summer camp! The campers were warmly greeted by Karen Salvatore, the founder of Food and Truth, and also a former Miss Rhode Island. The day started off with basic cooking lessons with Abigail Reedy, a recent graduate of Johnson and Wales University with an BS in Culinary Nutrition. Abby taught the campers how to properly wash and sanitize cooking materials to meet health code requirements. They also learned the basics of knife safety which they demonstrated their understanding during our lunch preparation.
Abby helped the campers to prepare whole wheat apple pancakes and homemade granola to top yogurt and fruit for breakfast. The pancakes were also vegan! We were all amazed at how delicious our healthy, homemade options were!

Later in the the morning, the campers started to prepare lunch for the day. Now it was time for the campers to put their morning lessons to work! The campers used their teamwork skills to prep all of the ingredients. The kitchen was filled with campers slicing onions, tomatoes, cilantro and garlic. They didn't even tear up when chopping the onions. They were pretty impressive! The recipe of the day was veggie bean burgers with a healthy lime mayonnaise. Hand cut baked sweet potato wedges were made as a side dish.
*Abigail's DELICIOUS recipes can be found here! http://www.foodandtruth.org/reedy.html

Along with healthy cooking comes tea time, an educational game that makes you think before you speak! During Tea Time, someone asks a question which in turn needs to be answered by each person using proper grammar. Filler words, slang and contractions are not allowed! Every word has to be anunciated. If the judges catch any of the above, that person is out until ultimately there is one person standing. The Tea Time game is such a beneficial activity to help fix bad habits. I didn't realize how hard it was until it was my turn to speak!

After lunch was finished and the kitchen was cleaned up, it was time for a fitness activity. Jessica, the yoga instructor, took the campers through a variety of exercises. The participants got to learn new stretching, breathing and balancing exercises. They even got to take turns selecting an exercise for the group to perform! After stretching, Jessica led the class through some relaxation exercises where the kids visualized themselves in their "happy place". My favorite part of the yoga session was the lesson about gratitude that Jessica shared with the campers. Each person had to share one thing they were grateful for today, whether it be big or small. It was amazing to hear the variety of answers among the group. Many were thankful for the opportunity to learn to cook healthy, delicious meals. Jessica made a valuable point at the end of her class, "Remember to be grateful for at least one thing everyday. Therefore when we are feeling down, we will always have something to lift us up".

Today I am grateful for the opportunity to work with such amazing students and teachers on a common goal, to create a healthier generation through healthy eating and physical activity!

For more information about Fit2Cook4Kids, visit http://www.foodandtruth.org/
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