2500 Elementary School Students Try Farm-Fresh Food at Tasting Week

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Mount St. Mary's student Nicholas Martin agrees: Janet Asher's "Best Kale Salad" is the best!.
Mount St. Mary’s student Nicholas Martin agrees: Janet Asher’s “Best Kale Salad” is the best!.
Tasting Week is one of the most engaging ways that Sierra Harvest connects kids with farm-fresh food. It is encouraging to see how so many of our tasters are not only willing to try something that may be unfamiliar — most of them love what they taste! They enjoyed everything from Denise Reynold’s massaged kale salad at Lyman Gilmore (kids came back for seconds and thirds, and asked for a copy of the recipe to take home to their families) to  Shan Kendall’s apple pear quince sauce with creme fraiche at Grizzly Hill (Several kids even wanted to taste the sauerkraut which was part of the display showcasing Mountain Bounty produce!).

Tasting Week organizer and Sierra Harvest board member Rachel Berry sums up why this kind of education is so important: “This event is so good at getting kids involved in the process of making healthy food — that is a huge part of the impact.  If kids were served a kale salad at school, with no education or participation around it, they would likely throw it out.  But when the chefs come, almost all the kids eat it and many ask for second helpings!”

 

Tasting Week would not be possible without countless hours of time from our incredible organizer, Rachel Berry, and our volunteer guest chefs. Sierra Harvest wishes to thank:

  • Janet Asher (Briar Patch Cooking School Instructor)
  • Liam Blackmon(CaCoCo Founder)
  • Mielle Cenier-Cowan Rose (Piece of My Heart Kitchen Founder and Chef)
  • Ariana DeFalco (Parent and Cooking Enthusiast)
  • Alicia Funk (Living Wild Project Founder)
  • Angela Gonzalez (Briar Patch Cooking School Instructor)
  • Susan Gouveia  (Personal Chef and Garden Goddesses Founder)
  • Noam Halpert (Briar Patch Cooking School Instructor)
  • Andrea Hope (Briar Patch Cooking School Instructor)
  • Barbara Jenesss (Briar Patch Cooking School Instructor)
  • Shan Kendall (Local Chapter Leader of the Weston Price Foundation and Briar Patch Cooking School Chef)
  • Lynn Kouba (Parent and Cooking Enthusiast)
  • Denise Reynolds (The Sensual Feast Chef)
  • Tiana Rockwell (Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and Dental Wellness Center co-founder)
  • Gracie Schatz (Sierra Harvest/Food Love Intern)
  • Doug Schma (Briar Patch Chef)
  • Maddie Sheffield (Three Forks Chef)
  • Kaori Stuessy  (Briar Patch Cooking School Instructor)
  • Laura Thorne (Way Yum Sushi Founder and Chef)
  • Carlos Trujillo (Farm to Table Caterer)
  • Wendy Van Wagner (Department of Public Health Community Nutrition Educator)
  • Leah Walsh (Leah’s Kitchen Medicine Founder and Chef)

As well as our partner farms who contributed produce for this event:

AM ranch, Bakbraken Acres, Boxcar Farm, Dinner Bell Farm, First Rain Farm, Food Love Project, Foothills Roots Farm, Harmony Valley Farm, Indian Springs Farm, Mountain Bounty Farm, Riverhill Farm, Starbright Acres, Super Tuber Farm, Sweet Roots Farm, and Woolman School Farm

To read more about Tasting Week, check out this article in the Union (you need to be a subscriber). Visit Sierra Harvest’s Tasting Week page for recipes!