Are You The Next Top Master Chef?

This week involved characteristics of competition, teamwork, and sustainability. Once garden bed groups linked up with another bed to create their team, the race for top master chef was on. The overarching goal of this activity was to create a meal including a common crop in our farm, kale. As teams brainstormed and debated the dish they believed would win top chef, many topics had to be kept in mind. These included appearance, taste, timeliness, had to be vegetarian, ability to keep your work space clean, and of course the special ingredient of kale. On block day teams met at the farm to retrieve any needed crops from the garden. After collecting several ingredients teams then weighed in the amount of crop harvested. Taking ourselves and items back into the classroom the race was on to see which team could please Mr. Stewart's tastebuds the most. Provided with stoves, silverware, pots and pans, and a few basic cooking ingredients such as olive oil, teams began preparing for what they hoped would turn out to be delicious meals. With about 50 minutes, each team washed their crops (and hands!) to start their chef making process. Many struggled at the beginning with dividing up jobs and some even experienced rivalry between teams as everyone wanted to be the top master chef. While recording crops and items used, each team developed their own creative dish involving kale from our farm, making this activity more sustainable than you could imagine. As time headed towards the end of class everyone placed their left over crops in the compost bowl and sat at the edge of their seats to see if their dish earned first place. After being tested by our judge, every student got a taste of the other groups creations. Once the activity was over everyone had a sense of accomplishment no matter what place you received because each and every person became a little closer with their fellow classmates while also helping our planet be more sustainable.  - Makaela