What do you get when you put sixteen little children,
red juicy apples, a couple of really really funny songs and a story in a
room?
Giggles, grins, sparkling eyes that go wide, crunching
and munching,millions of questions, amusing tales and a lot of fun.
This and more was exactly what I took back home with
me from the Apple Workshop that I put together for the little ones as part of
my Food Revolution Diaries (The workshop was for the children between the ages
of 3-7 and was free for everyone who wanted to attend).
Last Wednesday a couple of us gathered for a story telling session.
That evening began like a lot of stories do; once upon
a time. Only this time the protagonist was a tiny apple seed and it was R-E-A-L-LY
long time ago. It was the story of the first apple seed on the earth.
As the evening progressed the rain fairies and the sun
fairies also visited us so that the apple seed could grow into a beautiful and
big apple tree with red, round and mouth-watering apples. The children sat on
the floor cross legged, all eyes on me, eyes that clearly had many questions
and eyes that grew wide each time the apple seed grew.
A tiny worm also wiggled out to help. It made the
earth soft for the seed to break free. But the apple seed was still asleep.
Then two chirpy birds came and whispered “wakey wakey”
into the apple seed’s ear and the apple seed kind of heard them. She rubbed her
eyes, opened one eye just a tiny bit and then the other, stretched her arms and
whoosh got out of “bed”. The children smiled and laughed for that is how “we
get up each morning when mum/dad wakes us up to get ready for school”.
The apple seed began to grow from a seed to young
sapling to a tree full of blossoms. Just like my engrossed audience had become
“big and tall from the babies we were some years back”. The storm fairy came to
test the young tree’s strength just like sometimes “we fall in the park and mum
tells us to be strong and brush off all that dirt” they told me.
In between all this a woodland fairy dropped by, some
stars were wished for, those wishes were granted, the little scientists carried
out some truly serious apple research, they sang and danced with apples on
their heads and then on their ears and a little later the apples were on their
noses, the junior food critics tasted two different types of apples and rated
them on taste, texture, yumminess quotient, scribbling, coloring and with that
the workshop came to an end.
Honestly speaking I wasn't sure if that day when we
walked out had we just had fun (which isn't bad either:)) or
had the session made any little difference and opened their minds and palates
to eating more apples. It was only later when the parents began to message me I
was smiling.
One was surprised because her child had never eaten a
whole apple. She usually makes a face after eating a few wedges I was told, one
mentioned mine her child had never tasted green apples and she was happy about
it. Another one was amused that with friends around the child had eaten the
apple with the peel where as at home he always requested her to remove it.
Some of them wanted to do this tasting exercise with
more varieties of apples for scoring it made them feel important and a lot of
them are waiting eagerly for the next workshop I hear. One even tried the apple
recipe I shared that day. I haven’t stopped grinning ever since. They explained
the lifecycle of “our” apple seed to their parents. Grin just became wider.
Children are so receptive to new foods they have never
tasted or food they have previously rejected in another form when you make it
enjoyable and with peers isn't it? They all had an apple experience to tell me
and each other. “My mum makes applesauce
and I like that”, “mine gives me apples but they turn brown at school and I
like only white wedges (with the experiment they now knew what causes browning
and how to stop that :) YAY!), “I going to check for bruises on apples when I go shopping with my mum” and
so much more.
My little chefling wanted to give the opening speech
at the workshop! “You are my mum and are conducting this workshop which means I
am the hostess too”, she said and wrote out the cutest opening words ever!
I asked her later that evening about the most memorable
part of the workshop. It wasn't anything to do with the workshop if that’s what
you are thinking. She bit into an apple that evening and a tooth that had been
tickling her nearly came off! That was the biggest thing for her that
evening! The tooth fairy will be visiting me soon and I am very very excited (a first
for her!)
Later that evening she asked me if we could taste strawberries at the next workshop (If you'd like to see more snaps from that day the complete album is available here).
The workshop was made possible with the help from a
lot of people who came forward because they wanted to be a part of creating Food
Revolution here at Dubai.
The lovely
ladies, Cecilia and Anette from DinnerTime were really kind and got the
children the apples from the Greenheart Organic Farms. Tina, the lady behind
Splash n Bounce generously offered the space to conduct the workshop. Big thank
you ladies for being a part of my Food Revolution Diary and for getting our
little ones to eat fresh and eat real.
This for me would be my Food Revolution moment of the
year. I joined the wonderful and very encouraging team of Food Ambassadors very
recently (two months old here so technically not the moment of the year type of
a moment but hey it is the drop that counts!) and I am so happy that we enjoyed
our apple story and biting into apples. Post the workshop even if a handful of
kids out of the group of sixteen who came that day end up including apples in
their diet and in turn convince their friends to try a bite from theirs I think
we may have a little proud moment here.
There is a beautiful post by a fellow Ambassador Mardi
Michels here and when I read it I found myself nodding in agreement. It is also
about those little changes.
2015 is almost here and it is going to be my goal to
connect with more and more children this year through cooking, telling stories, getting parents and kids to be in the kitchen together, writing and more.
Then there is the big day on the 15th
of May that I can’t wait for and together we will bring about a Food Revolution at Dubai.
To the little changes. To the big ones. To healthy
eating. To real food.
To Food Revolution.
Images: If you like any of the pictures on the blog and would like to use those please write to me. I put in hours of work behind each post and would love to share it with you but it would hurt me if use those without my permission. Just ask! I have taken the liberty to share the snaps of the children who attended the workshop that day, should any parent want me to remove their child's picture please let me know and I will do it immediately.
9 comments:
Awesome post Prachi....love your writing, n the story too....I'm gonna share this with my son....a great initiative to get the Lil ones eat healthy ☺
So so amazing Prachi... keep up your mini revolution! I would never have the patience to do this.
Mind Blowing Prachi! Had you been in Delhi I would have sent my son too!!!
Mind Blowing Prachi! Wish you were in Delhi ...I would have send my son too!!!
This is a beautiful post Prachi. You totally "get" what it's all about, this Food Rev thing. You are making amazing changes over there. Brava!
Preeti: thanks. Yes please do and let me know if he enjoyed playing with his food :)
Ishita: Thanks..actually all those little monsters were really sweet :) Okay I am lying not all..some made me pull my hair apart:))
Shelly: Thanks. May be we should have one in Delhi the next time I am around..that should be fun:)
Mardi: You are such an inspiration and I am SO happy to be part of the awesome Food Revolution community.
Post a Comment