WHITEWATER REGION (Cobden) — Teenagers appear to be taking over the family kitchen after participating in the newest Renfrew County 4H Club — Six by Sixteen.
Westmeath mom Louise Drapeau is finding that out as her son Jordan, 16, has decided to cook.
“He wants to do more,” she said.
Mrs. Drapeau said Jordan didn’t want to take the club, but told him, everyone needs to learn to cook.
Jordan has since cooked chicken stir fry and spaghetti, she said.
Friday evening, April 5, was achievement night for the three Six by Sixteen 4H clubs at the ag hall in Cobden. The participants set up various informational stations around the hall, including identifying different types of pasta, how to set a table, what knives are used for what and what kitchen tools are used for what, along with demonstrations of how to plant a seed and create simple vegetable samplers and finally a fudge-tasting competition.
The participants manned the display stations while parents and friends checked out the various booths.
There were 60 participants in the three clubs between the ages of 9 and 21 years old, said 4H leader Lynn Clelland. While clubs are a combined total of 12 hours, usually six two-hour meetings, it was decided because of the make-up of this club, which is informational, prepping, cooking, cleaning and eating, it would be four three-hour clubs, with two of them at home cooking for their families.
Mrs. Clelland noted this is a 4H project based upon the Ontario Federation of Agriculture’s (OFA) concept of 6 by 16, which is a practical project to help young people with the skills needed to be able to prepare six complete meals by the time they are 16 years old.
The meals prepared for this club were spaghetti, garlic bread and fruit salad with topping; chicken stirfry, rice and fruit crisp; lasagna, salad and dessert; and then fajitas made from the left-over stirfry.
She said the participants were encouraged to cook more than they needed, therefore, providing a quick meal on another night.
Parents were encouraged to allow their children to cook in the kitchen, even if they stood nearby, she added
Leader Lorraine Hamilton said this project is designed to encourage young people to get healthy food on the table by providing them with the tools to plan and prepare six nutritious meals by the age of 16. This OFA initiative wanted to encourage lifelong healthy eating by starting young.
“They want young people to have the know-how to cook healthy meals from scratch, supporting local farmers, food processors and our economy,” she said. “They needed a way to implement this program with the young people.”
Renfrew County 4H board member and leader Mrs. Clelland wrote a manual for the leaders to follow. This manual includes healthy and easy recipes that would appeal to members, as well as information and activities about food safety, kitchen safety, nutritional information, cooking terms and knowledge of a wide variety of kitchen utensils and knives, Mrs. Hamilton explained.
When the Six by Sixteen Club was announced, there were so many participants, that it was split into three clubs – Cobden with leaders Mrs. Hamilton and Nancy Schultz; Westmeath with leaders Anne Bromley and Jen Austin and Renfrew/Arnprior with Mrs. Clelland, Bev Patterson and Anna McIntyre.
Assembling everyone together after 45 minutes of checking out the displays, Mrs. Clelland said one of the reasons this club was so successful is because of the support from parents and leaders, people who provided food for the classes along with financial support.
Farm Credit Canada donated $500 to each of the three clubs, which covered some of the food, rentals for halls where necessary and a few other expenses, Mrs. Clelland said.
Debbie Pretty-Straathof, a director with the OFA, provided accolades for what she saw after checking out the displays.
“I can tell you without any hesitation that back in 2016 when we heard a presentation from general manager Neil Curry of what he thought was a good fit with our national food strategy and food literacy, was going to be a great program,” she said.
The program was launched through sixbysixteen.me and a food photo contest was launched.
She had an opportunity to check out each of the displays and discuss some of the information with the 4H participants.
“Never ever did I imagine I would see a room full of happy kids and very proud parents,” Mrs. Pretty-Straathof said. “Thank you to everyone who is responsible for launching this 4H pilot project.”
She noted there is a similar 4H project in western Ontario as well.
“We are happy you are embracing this with such enthusiasm and I hope it continues,” Mrs. Pretty-Straathof said. “Congratulations to all of you, the displays were fantastic.”
The Balsam Hill Six by Sixteen Club, which is from the Renfrew/Arnprior area, created a song about the project they created and performed it for the audience.
Each of the participants were then presented with a certificate.
As the Westmeath club was gathering at the front of the hall, Mrs. Bromley said this club was lucky because it had the use of the recreational centre’s kitchen/hall for free.
“We ate a lot of food,” she said with a laugh.
Each of those participants were also given a certificate of achievement.
Mrs. Schultz of the Cobden club said the senior members of the club were a big help. This club had use of the ag hall kitchen, which they greatly appreciated, she said. It’s free to use, however, the 4H members volunteer at various ag society functions, such as auctions and trivia night, she added.
This club also made 17 pans of lasagnes of various sizes and donated them to the Cobden and Area District Food Bank, Mrs. Schultz said.
They were then each presented with their certificates of achievement.
