On a bright, sunny afternoon in August, ten
enthusiastic children gathered in the Ambury Farm Barn kitchen to cook pumpkin
soup. They ranged in age from 7-12 and
included children from Waterlea and Mangere Bridge Primary Schools, Waikowhai
Intermediate and one homeschooler. My
friends Awat and Khalat and I had been inspired to run a plant-based cooking
class when we were at the Friends of the Farm’s “Kid’s Sweet Talks” earlier in
the year.
We put together a proposal for Friends of
the Farm, explaining what we wanted to do, and what support we’d need. The week before the class, we went on a
shopping trip to Huckleberry Farm, Bridge Fruit and Veg, and Freshchoice to get
the ingredients.
On the day, we gave the children the
utensils and ingredients and took them through the recipe step-by-step, showing
them how to cut, peel, cube and dice each ingredient. At lunch, we enjoyed the delicious flavours
of the meal, which we washed down with hot chocolate and marshmallows. The children went home with leftover soup,
the recipe and some Love Food Hate Waste material, provided by Auckland
Council.
“I loved the pumpkin soup and Molly had a
fabulous time. Thank you so much for
organising the afternoon”, was the feedback from Sharleen McClay, the parent of
one participant. I found it interesting and exciting to run
a cooking class. Awat, Khalat and I
learnt lots of preparation, leadership and management skills and the soup
turned out very tasty!
We hope to run another class in the future. Thanks to Friends of the Farm for supporting us and Auckland Council for their resource material.
Written by Maja Skilling,
Mangere Bridge resident and Waikowhai
Intermediate student
