‘Catch them young,’ as the expression goes. To raise healthy kids, we need to teach them about the diversity of foods, and to encourage them to move  away from the obesogenic diets to which many are subjected and have become accustomed. Part of the challenge lies in  poverty of various kinds: finances, culinary knowledge, time for cooking, or access to cooking facilities. Although these challenges seem daunting, many pathbreaking school and community programs offer hope for ways in which children can learn about healthy, delicious, and affordable diets, and can also engage with a variety of food cultures.

At this Kitchen Table we will be learning about and discussing three different initiatives: an American community project, a Danish educator, and a Japanese government initiative. Each of them has designed programs and activities to suit local cultural needs. We invite you to join this discussion. We also look forward to hearing from you about local programs you may be familiar with, and any challenges that you have faced as agents, actors, educators and parents.

Joining us will be -

Stephanie Assmann

Stephanie’s research interests focus on Japan as a consumer society between innovation and tradition. She is currently completing a monograph on the governmental food education (shokuiku) campaign, which advocates education about regional food products. Further interests include gender equality in the workplace and Japan’s rural areas. Stephanie is co-editor of Japanese Food and Foodways. Past and Present (with Eric C. Rath, University of Illinois Press, 2010) and editor of Sustainability in Contemporary Rural Japan: Challenges and Opportunities (Routledge, 2016).

Jacquelyn Chi is the Director of Program at the Charlie Cart Project, where she designs and delivers programs that train, support, engage, and activate local educators in schools, libraries, food banks, and other community-based organizations to teach hands-on cooking and food education. Prior to the Charlie Cart Project, she managed B2B events and advocacy initiatives in the U.S. and Canada at OpenTable, the restaurant reservations management platform. She also served as director of programs and special projects for the thought leadership arm of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), where she oversaw educational conferences, retreats, and initiatives centered around sustainability, health and wellness, world cuisines, and innovation and technology across the food service spectrum. Jacquelyn earned her bachelor’s degree in Radio-Television-Film from Northwestern University, and her master’s degree in International Communication from American University, where she researched food as a tool of public diplomacy, and the social construction of authenticity in foreign eating experiences. Jacquelyn’s eclectic career across the food world has at various times included stints as a photographer and videographer for a Turkish coffee truck diplomacy project; a social media manager for a start-up food company; and a barista in a chocolate factory.

The Charlie Cart Project (CCP)was founded in 2015 to make hands-on food education accessible to the next generation so that children and families have the knowledge and confidence to make healthy food choices for life. CCP provides schools and other community organizations with an all-in-one nutrition education platform, centered on the Charlie Cart – a portable, compact mobile kitchen, fully equipped with tools and appliances – which makes hands-on cooking and nutrition education accessible in any learning environment. In less than a decade, CCP has grown from 12 sites in one state to over 450 sites across 47 states.

Alastair Robertson

Alastair is an educator at Bernadotteskolen in Copenhagen, with over 25 years of teaching experience in the Dansk Friskole system..  He often integrates food, ingredients, cooking, and recipes into projects which he has conceived including – Magellan: the Spice Trade and Global Exploration, Sustainable Foods for the Future, Expedition Food for A Survival Trip, The Mighty Mussel: Our Farm in Hellerup Harbour, Garden to Table, Taste in Space, and recipes for English language teaching

As Coordinator of the International Department of Bernadotteskolen, he leads on the The 'P-workshops'. These Project-workshops are the soul of teaching at Bernadotteskolen, where children from grade 0-9 work on projects through making and doing. The kitchen P-workshop thus becomes an important site to not only learn history, maths, physics and science but also life's most important survival skill - making food