New cooking class for Nova Scotia students teaches nutrition and combats food insecurity

A pilot program offers cooking classes to elementary students – and aims to encourage healthy habits.

Morning glory muffins were on the menu and lesson plan for around 100 students on Thursday.

They grated apples, peeled carrots, and cracked eggs, tasks some students have never tried before.

As they baked, each student learned the importance of healthy food and how to prepare it.

“We’ve worked here at John W. MacLeod with three classes of Grade 4, and this afternoon we are heading to Elizabeth Sutherland, and we are going to do two Grade 6 classes,” says Diana Dibblee, registered dietician and educator.

This is the first day of the pilot program, ‘Recipes for Learning: Student Cooking Class.’

It’s something Dibblee has always dreamt of rolling out. She has now partnered with Nourish Nova Scotia and a few elementary schools in Halifax to make it happen.

“I thought of this idea because as a registered dietitian and long-term educator, food is dear to my heart and food insecurity is huge here in Nova Scotia.

“So, teaching children that food is good, and food is important for their health, and also teaching them ways how to cook food and make it easy is a lifelong skill,” she says.

Students not only had the opportunity to gain hands-on experience baking and working with food, but they also got to taste their own creations.

Another focus for the program is healthy locally grown food, which for this program is all supplied by Nourish Nova Scotia.

“A couple of the most important ingredients are carrots that were brought today from the Annapolis Valley that were grown by Longspell Farms and apples that were grown at Noggins Corner Farm along with some flour from Longspell Farm,” says Jenny Osburn, Nourish Nova Scotia school food co-lead.

Fourth grade teacher Carolyn Power says hands-on activities like these teach teamwork and skills that will be useful in their futures.

“It’s hard to know how much kids get to engage with food at home. For them to be able to see what goes into making food is a life skill they need to learn,” says Carolyn Power, John W. MacLeod Fleming Tower elementary school fourth grade French immersion teacher.

This program allows the students to put their knowledge to the test, while also ensuring the kids have fun.

“Its really about helping kids learn about food and how it’s made and the magic of putting the ingredients together and having it turn into something that they have enjoyed before and to realize they can make it themselves,” says Osburn.

The reaction from students has been positive, many eager to learn and teach their fellow classmates. Dibblee says students will leave here today with a number of new food literacy skills

“They are going to go home with a recipe book, they are going to learn how to make this food themselves. So, it’s great, I really hope they share it with their family,” says Dibblee.

This is just the start, the plan for this team is by fall, they hope to have an official program ready to roll out to schools with recipes and lesson plans for teachers to access.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page