Children at food food camps around the country have been learning lessons about nutrition and sustainability that organisers hope will help them develop healthy cooking and eating habits.
The August camps, run by the 4H organisation, took place just before schools start back again and involved hundreds of boys and girls aged 8-12 years old.
“The general idea of the food school is, to teach the children about healthy food, exercising and how to take care of themselves, but also teaching them where the food comes from” explains Maria Lill-Smeds, one of the three group leaders at the Porvoo food camp.
“We always visit farmers and look at how they work, what they grow and at the product’s way through the industry to the stores and on the family’s table” she says.
During the four days of the summer camp in August, the children learn about cooking by chopping, frying, tasting and smelling their own food as they prepared breakfast, lunch and a snack.
“This year, we have been concentrating on fish. We prepared different kinds of fish and we also went to Porvoo with the children to see how the fishermen work and where the fish come from” Lill-Smeds tells News Now Finland.
The practical lessons, with hands-on involvement, seem to be a hit with the young people involved in the Porvoo class.
“I have learned to prepare different kinds of fish and my favourite thing to do was taking the bus to Porvoo to see how the fishermen work” says Janina Kotkavuori, one of the girls at the summer camp.
4H has been organising the summer cooking camps for the last ten years, and runs classes in Finnish and Swedish.
