Uptown to Downtown... Students Make Dinner

Students at PS 132 learn how to make guacamole

PS 132 The Juan Pablo Duarte School

The wind blew in off the Hudson River and the sounds of Clave Azul  IS 143 filled the air as I arrived at Gracie mansion for the 5th annual Dinner Party Project with PS 132. This night was the culmination of 5 weeks of lessons on nutrition, etiquette, planting, cooking, and more with the 5th grade at PS 132 in Washington Heights. For the 7th year in a row, Chef Filiberto Estevez- executive chef at Gracie Mansion- and his team worked with students while a team of volunteers from UBS led by Lynn Duffy assisted in classrooms, donated materials, created centerpieces and all around supported the project.  

This years project, led by Spoons Programs Director Stacey Ornstein along with Dinner Party Planners Hope Mirlis and Sonya Alonge, was an amazing success with 47 students from two classes participating. The joy on the children's faces as they did their "salad parade" from the kitchen to rousing applause and cheers from family, friends and supporters was indicative of the pride they felt in their accomplishments! They served their salads to eager diners complete with snips of the micro herbs they planted and grew themselves.    

The support Spoons received from UBS, the Gracie Mansion Conservancy and the Julia Child Foundation that resulted in this project is an example of how our partnerships can be harnessed to produce great results.

Thank you also to:

- Teachers from PS 132 and Principal Xiomara Nova - Gracie Mansion Culinary Team

- Volunteers from City Tech

- The Clave Azul Band

- Kashi; donated snack bars for all students

- ChopChop Magazine; donated magazines for all    students 

- Bowery Kitchen; donated chef hats for all students 

- Avocados from Mexico; donated avocados for in-school lessons and TDPP 

 
The Earth School PS 364

Three weeks earlier and 150 blocks south, over 100 4th and 5th graders from The Earth School (PS 364) culminated their 3 month Dinner Party Project by cooking and sharing dinner with their families in the school cafeteria. The walls were decorated with murals of  scenes from around the earth that they created with their art teacher for the evening, and the menus were stamped with a lino cut they had carved. We are especially grateful to Flik Independent School Dining and the Assurant Foundation who helped to fund the project.

Cutting vegetables for Pasta Primavera at the Earth School

Julia Jordan, Spoons founder and Board member shares her reflections on the evening:

... hints of ginger hung in the air from the delicious carrot ginger soup. Our pre-set appetizers were abundant ... mixed raw veggie salad w/ a honey vinaigrette and tomato mozzarella crostini. Sounds of family conversation could be heard in between bites, and Cuban style jazz playing in the background. Highlights of the night: personally being greeted so cordially at the door by Monika and Rayeles; when 5 children each read their toasts to Spoons, Flik, their parents and teachers. They were especially grateful to Tim Lammers, teacher/chef and master planner, for cooking with them over many months and helping them taste and talk about food and party planning.The children all knew their menus and recited each ingredient in the dishes they made. Delicious!

It is Spoon's mission to educate children, teachers, and families about the benefits of healthy eating.  The Dinner Party Project, as all our programs, is designed to be a fun, hands-on way to influence the eating habits of children, and create lasting positive food memories that celebrate and connect families. We seek to teach students about healthy eating, encouraging them to try tasty foods that fill the senses. We want students to see what they are capable of with hard work and develop the self-esteem that comes with completing such a task as a dinner party for all these guests!

Earth School Dinner Guest Christian Fischer, Corporate Executive Chef, Flik Independent School Dining

- Jaques Pepin, Spoons National Spokesman 

Students Get Moving for Food Miles

Choosing food cards during the Spoons Food Miles Relay

"This is fun! Who knew food traveled so far!" Exclaims a 4th grader from Manhattan participating in this years Spoons Food Miles Relay. Despite the rain that threatened to wash out the courses at many schools, students exercised their bodies and learned about food miles as they ran back and forth depositing food item cards into various origin bins. In our first large scale implementation of this program, over 2,000 students in 73 classrooms, learned about how far food travels to reach our stores and markets and the energy costs and other impact of those miles. 

During one week in May, over 20 Spoons trained volunteers descended upon 22 schools setting up a relay course in which students raced against each other. Most classes quickly learned that the fastest way to win the race was to pick local food items (lettuce from Brooklyn vs lettuce from California) and were able to transfer the activity to real life scenarios. The lessons were clear: food produced nearby is fresher; it's important to know where your food comes from; and it takes energy for food to travel from its origin to its destination.

Want to volunteer with Spoons? We have programs starting in October and are looking for people to help implement our curriculum in NYC public school classrooms. You can download a volunteer form here and we'll contact you in the fall.