{"id":3188,"date":"2020-12-05T18:47:50","date_gmt":"2020-12-05T23:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsettlement.org\/food\/?p=3188"},"modified":"2021-01-27T11:21:16","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T16:21:16","slug":"connection-a-sixteen-weeks-journey-of-fmk-zooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsettlement.org\/food\/2020\/12\/05\/connection-a-sixteen-weeks-journey-of-fmk-zooms\/","title":{"rendered":"Connection: A Sixteen-Week Journey of FMK Zooms"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Lana Alman, Culinary Educator<\/p>\n

Having the opportunity to work with Community Food Action as this season’s Farmers Market for Kids Culinary Educator gave me a great sense of hope and inspiration, especiall<\/span>y<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in these difficult times<\/span>\u00a0when people crave human interaction<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Starting in August, we\u00a0<\/span>embarked on a 16<\/span>–<\/span>week journey of zoom<\/span>s<\/span>, culinary experiments, funny camera angels, and most importantly, community building.\u00a0<\/span>In these four months, in addition to teaching about\u00a0<\/span>seasonal eating and healthy cooking,\u00a0<\/span>w<\/span>e travelled around the globe, heard family stories, and cr<\/span>e<\/span>ated connections beyond the screen.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Transitioning in-person culinary education sessions to a\u00a0<\/span>virtual<\/span>\u00a0format presented us with numerous challenges. Choppy\u00a0<\/span>Wi-Fi<\/span>, connectivity issues, and the mute button threw us curve balls on a weekly basis. Perhaps even a bigger\u00a0<\/span>obstacle\u00a0<\/span>was that kids weren\u2019t able to touch, taste, or smell the food through the screen.\u00a0<\/span>Thanks to technology\u00a0<\/span>however\u00a0<\/span>we were able to create visually\u00a0<\/span>engaging<\/span>\u00a0content<\/a> and incorporate elements of storytelling,\u00a0<\/span>games, and interactive activities.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Each week we\u00a0<\/span>featured\u00a0<\/span>a drawing\u00a0<\/span>prompt<\/span>\u00a0for kids to share\u00a0<\/span>their favorite\u00a0<\/span>fruit<\/span>s<\/span> or vegetables, seeds, or season of the year.\u00a0<\/span>Kids loved to put their drawings up to the\u00a0<\/span>screen as we spotlight<\/span>ed them<\/span>\u00a0on camera.\u00a0<\/span>Music<\/a> from all over the world was incorporated\u00a0<\/span>to inspire the drawing<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We often referred to a map of the world to show kids where the\u00a0<\/span>ingredients<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>were originally<\/span>\u00a0grown<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>thank<\/span>ed<\/span>\u00a0the farmers who cultivate the land today<\/span>. We pointed to Belgium for Brussels sprouts, Kazakhstan for apples, and Peru for potatoes<\/span>. Kids were delighted <\/span>to hear that fruits and vegetables had their own families and travel stories<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>The group was as diverse as our recipes, with families from\u00a0<\/span>Ecuador, Mexico, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic\u00a0<\/span>joining our weekly sessions.\u00a0<\/span>Switching between English and Spanish, m<\/span>oms often share<\/span>d<\/span>\u00a0the unique names for how they refer to fruits and vegetables and\u00a0<\/span>told us about\u00a0<\/span>native recipes that they make at home.\u00a0<\/span>From these\u00a0<\/span>conversations we learned about\u00a0<\/span>bayos<\/span><\/i>,\u00a0<\/span>ayocotes<\/span><\/i>, and\u00a0<\/span>chil<\/span><\/i>a<\/span><\/i>cayotes<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>These sessions not only\u00a0<\/span>gave kids a space to learn, but for the moms to teach us about traditional cuisine from around the region.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During\u00a0<\/span>in-person<\/span>\u00a0sessions,\u00a0<\/span>parents\u00a0<\/span>tended to be in more of an observer\u2019s role, whereas during the virtual <\/span>sessions,\u00a0<\/span>they\u00a0<\/span>participated<\/span>\u00a0i<\/span>n conversations and weekly activities, which wasn\u2019t\u00a0<\/span>only an enriching experience for the kids<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0but also for the adults.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Like family, we celebrated holidays and birthdays on our weekly zoom sessions. We spoke about World Indigenous People’s Day, Native American and Hispanic Heritage Months<\/span>, and even squeezed National Nut Day in October. <\/span>And l<\/span>ike every community, we incorporated rituals into ours. We began every session by featuring photos of the kids who came to the 170 Farm Stand the day before. <\/span>And we started each<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>culinary demo<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>by washing our hands<\/span>, putting\u00a0<\/span>on\u00a0<\/span>our aprons, and our chef\u2019s hats<\/span>, and\u00a0<\/span>even if it was pretend, the kids loved to play along<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Ritual is key to community building, and these small\u00a0<\/span>touches<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>gave families a sense of belonging and routine.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From just a few participants during our first week to over a dozen zooms on the gallery view<\/span>\u00a0in our final session, these weekly gatherings served as a\u00a0<\/span>space for families to connect\u00a0<\/span>beyond the screen.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>As we brough<\/span>t<\/span>\u00a0our season to a close, m<\/span>oms\u00a0<\/span>expressed a sense of gratitude for the weekly sessions, and a desire to continue in the future. They enjoyed meeting new people,\u00a0<\/span>hearing their children\u2019s ideas<\/span>\u00a0and spending time together.\u00a0<\/span>Creating connection in COVID isn\u2019t easy, but i<\/span>t sure is possible. Incorporating ritual, celebration,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>storytelling<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>allowed\u00a0<\/span>us\u00a0<\/span>to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>transcend<\/span>\u00a0linguistic, cultural, and technological barriers<\/span>\u00a0while\u00a0<\/span>building community\u00a0<\/span>right from our homes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lana Alman, Culinary Educator Having the opportunity to work with Community Food Action as this season’s Farmers Market for Kids Culinary Educator gave me a great sense of hope and inspiration, especially\u00a0in these difficult times\u00a0when people crave human interaction.\u00a0\u00a0Starting in August, we\u00a0embarked on a 16–week journey of zooms, culinary experiments, funny camera angels, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":3209,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsettlement.org\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsettlement.org\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsettlement.org\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsettlement.org\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsettlement.org\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3188"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/newsettlement.org\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3270,"href":"https:\/\/newsettlement.org\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3188\/revisions\/3270"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsettlement.org\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsettlement.org\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsettlement.org\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsettlement.org\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}