Young Chefs at Acton-Boxborough Farmers Market

by Debra Simes, for the Acton-Boxborough Farmers Market

Imagine ABFM staff’s surprise on Sunday, June 24, when a series of kids and their parents kept inquiring of us at the ABFM stall at market, “Is Heidi here?” We blinked cluelessly and said, “Who? What?” The mystery was soon solved.

It turns out that Heidi Conley, Food Service Manager at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, teaches an AB Community Education summer cooking class called “Let’s Cook” [http://comed.ab.mec.edu/letscook.shtml]. In preparation for the weeklong class that started the next day, Heidi had instructed her students to meet her at the ABFM that Sunday , as she had done last year.

She wanted her students to experience a farmers market and the opportunities it presents for learning about where food comes from and how it’s grown, for learning about vegetables and fruits with which they perhaps were not familiar (kale, anyone?), and to purchase local and organic foods for use during the class. At market, she gave the kids lists of produce to find and money with which to purchase what they’d need for some of their upcoming culinary exploits. Heidi also secures eggs for her class from an AB teacher’s backyard chickens, and other goods from area farms.

During the cooking class, Heidi teaches the children (some of whom do some cooking at home, and some of whom have never taken spatula to skillet) to make some basic dishes and snacks “from scratch.” Additionally, she creates opportunities for them to compare the “scratch” versions of, for example, pancakes, eggs, and mashed potatoes, with the myriad processed and convenience foods that are now so prevalent. Heidi hopes the children will discover the differences, not only in taste, but in nutrition; to that end, she helps them learn how to read nutrition panels on food items.

Her curriculum also covers safety, sanitation, etiquette, recycling, and nutrition topics. When I visited the class, I got to see placemats, created by the kids, that sported images of how a place setting is supposed to be arranged, as well as paper plates with the revised USDA “plate” image of optimal portions of food groups [www.ChooseMyPlate.gov]. In closing the loop from ingredients to waste, the class recycles everything it can, including putting all the food scraps into the famous ABRHS worm bin (because, as we all know, Compost Rules).

So what did these 9–14-year-olds cook up in their time with Heidi? The week’s agenda included: breakfast items such as muffins, pancakes, home fries, berry jam, and tea bread; a lunch of barbequed potatoes, grilled cheese, veggie sticks, and sandwich kabobs; a dinner featuring a veggie stir fry, salad, and pasta with meatballs; and snacks such as homemade trail mix, chocolate-dipped fruit, and smoothies. In addition, they did an Acton Iron Chef Cookoff on their last day, with pizza as the central competitive focus. (I have no results on this as of publication!)

The treasures unearthed by these kids at the ABFM for use during their week in the kitchen included broccoli, garlic, carrots, basil, radishes, and strawberries, among others. The carrots became veggie sticks, the garlic and broccoli were parts of the stir-fry, and the strawberries, along with some raspberries, morphed into a glorious jam — perhaps to top those homemade pancakes or be slathered on the tea breads!

Needless to say, we’re thrilled that Heidi’s using the ABFM as a lab for her cooking class. Next year, staff at the ABFM will be prepared. When kids arrive and ask for Heidi, we’ll know to say, “Oh, wait here; she’ll be here any minute. And look — have you ever seen such gorgeous kale?! You have heard about kale chips, right?”