Tag Archives: Green kids cook

Earth Day And Green Kids Cook

April 22nd is Earth Day, the biggest secular observance in the world, drawing in over a billion people to drive action on climate change and preserving our fragile ecosystems.

Last night we finished watching the BBC series Greta Thunberg: A Year To Change The World ; you can’t help being struck by, not just the extraordinary drive, but the vulnerability of this incredible young woman who has woken an entire generation to the desperate need for climate action. Greta’s now 18, but so many of her followers are much, much younger.

As a parent it’s a tricky one, I want our daughter to engage but not to be having endless sleepless nights. There’s so much footage on social media with haunting videos of rainforests being decimated, of floods and fires – kids really can’t escape what’s going on. I think that children need to feel that they are personally making some kind of a difference. When the Australian bush fires raged in 2019-2020, Imi and a couple of her school mates (all aged around 12) cooked and sold 30 portions of dal to raise money for the Australian Red Cross; the girls enjoyed the process, they felt empowered and knew that they’d helped a little.

Green Kids Cook

Photographs by Kirstie Young (Green Kids Cook)

In the same way, focusing on ways to be greener in our homes isn’t just about doing our bit for the planet (which is obviously crucial right now), it’s also really vital for children to feel that they’re doing something to help turn things around.

Food plays such a huge role in how we look after our world: from emissions to soil health, deforestation to polluting our oceans – it’s also something we, and our families, can begin to tackle on a day to day basis, and enjoy the process too.

So, I wrote a cook book for the 7-14’s – as well as being a recipe book, Green Kids Cook has some pages with tips and facts about food waste, cutting out plastic, planting for bees, eating more veg’, shopping locally and much more. Illustrator Jem Venn has done a truly wonderful job of bringing these pages to life – here’s a fab’ example where we look at different types of food waste.

Delicious ugly veg’ by Jem Venn

Sadly, you won’t be able to snap up Green Kids Cook in time for Earth Day, it will be available from July 1st, but you could pre-order it here , or at your local bookshop!
I’d love it if you could spread the word too xx
I’ll share the recipe for veg’ peel crisps tomorrow

Green Kids Cook : Good For You, Good For The Planet.

SO……….
just 3 months to go, until my new cook book hits the shelves on July 1st and I’m really, really proud of this one.

Cooking is one of the most brilliant skills you’ll ever learn. Whatever you plan to do with your life, whether you’re set on climbing Everest or playing the trombone, keeping bees or becoming a politician, you’ll always have to eat. When you prepare your own food, you’re the boss; you can create your own favourite dishes exactly how you like them and you can choose the very best ingredients to keep not only you but the planet fit and healthy, too.

From the kids’ Intro.

It seems so obvious; getting children in the kitchen is vital, yet cooking is a life skill that’s so often overlooked as we seem to push our children relentlessly to achieve academically, or to star on the sports field. Many of us grow up without a clue of how to prepare an honest meal, resorting to the highly-processed, plastic-wrapped garbage that’s damaging, not just human health, but that of the planet too. Things definitely need to change, and here’s a small stepping stone.

Our kids are increasingly engaged and often, quite understandably, overwhelmed by the spectre of irreversible climate change, with little idea of how they can make a difference. My plan for Green Kids Cook was spawned during the School Strike for Climate Change, when Greta Thunberg came to Bristol; witnessing thousands of children standing silently in the rain, listening to her call for action was incredibly moving. So, there is a huge appetite for change, but where do those kids even begin? Our food system is a great place to start. Here are dozens of recipes, tips and challenges that make eating a sustainable, veg-centric diet exciting and fun.

Here’s what the fabulous Anna Jone’s has to say about Green Kids Cook

“Such an important book that weaves together the fun and playfulness of food with positive and practical ways kids can make a difference to the world by how they cook and eat. I can’t wait to cook from it with my son.”

So here’s a sneaky peek at one of the recipes from the book, shot by super-talented photographer, Kirstie Young, here in Bristol. It was just fabulous to work with so many local children, many (past and present) from Hotwells Primary School, plus kids of colleagues and friends.

I’m not sure that you can actually read the recipe here, but at least you can see the user-friendly layout, with step by step pictures to bring the directions to life. I’ll share a few recipes to give you a taster over the coming weeks.

If you’d like to pre-order a book then click here to support independent bookshops or of course there is the big A.

If you’d like to share the news with your friends, families, schools or anyone else who is passionate about food, kids, the environment …..basically about LIFE, then I’d be thrilled.

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