Welcome Back to LunchLAB!
LunchLAB is returning for the 2024-2025 school year!
Dear LunchLAB Families,
We couldn’t be more excited for the return of fall and with it, the opportunity to get back in the kitchen and start creating delicious meals again.
For us, this community represents so much of what we hold close. As a program developed and delivered by the parents, teachers, volunteers, chefs, and advocates who make up the daily lives of the kids in our lunchroom – LunchLAB is so much more than the food we share.
As part of our spring evaluation process, 88% of you shared a positive change in kids’ eating habits as a result of LunchLAB, while the students themselves shared feeling more excited about school on LunchLAB days and expressed the importance of LunchLAB as part of their school experience.
At LunchLAB, we believe that sharing food together is an opportunity to touch the overall wellbeing, learning experience, and sense of belonging for kids in our community. With this in mind, our team took the summer to embed the valuable feedback we received from so many of you.
We’re excited to begin our year together with creative ideas to engage student feedback and participation in menu design, improved communication to connect parents with program values & happenings, as well as meaningful collaboration with teachers to integrate edible education into student learning more broadly.
In this newsletter, you’ll find more info on the edible education at the core of LunchLAB, insight into how our chefs design the menu, as well as key dates, administrative bits, and a (re-)introduction to our talented Chefs-in-Residences.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at lunchlab@growingchefs.ca with any questions or insights you’d like to share with us through the year.
With gratitude for all of you,
Madi Bourette-Knowles, Director of Programs & Engagement
Key Dates
Roberts
Online Registration: Week of September 16
Volunteer Info Session & Lunch Prepared by Students: September 26, 12-1 pm
First Lunch: Tuesday, October 1
Norquay
Online Registration: Week of September 23
Volunteer Info Session & Lunch Prepared by Students: October 4, 12-1 pm
First Lunch: Wednesday, October 9
Total Ed
Online Registration: Week of September 16
First Lunch: Thursday, September 19
Meet the Chefs-in-Residence
Chef Tahani
Tahani is a passionate chef whose journey began from observing her mother’s cooking to creating dishes of her own that are nothing short of inspiring. Tahani ran her own food business bringing experience and creativity to the culinary craft. Having lived in various countries, she has embraced diverse cuisines and cultures, weaving these global influences into her unique cooking style. Each dish reflects her dedication and love for food experiences worldwide. Tahani loves working with children and worked as a special needs teacher for 3 years.
Chef Dallan
Chef Dal is approaching 18 years in the culinary world, a path he never anticipated. He once envisioned a future in music or acting, while his mother saw him as a teacher, his father as a businessman, and his grandmother predicted he'd be a hotel chef like his great-uncle. Remarkably, they all were right in their own way. Chef Dal’s journey has taken him from running his own catering company to training future chefs for large restaurant groups, and everything in between. While the challenges of menu design and event execution have been thrilling, it's the sense of community he’s found in the culinary world that keeps him inspired every day.
Chef Tasha
Chef Tasha has cooked on a sailboat in the Great Bear Rainforest, a fishing lodge in Haida Gwaii, and in the mountains of Yoho National Park. She was featured as the Star Trek Chef on startrek.com in 2020, and has been a repeat guest on CBC Radio’s BC Today. Chef Tasha Sawyer has been cooking ever since she can remember, and professionally for the last 17 years. She is passionate about local ingredients, and has been an avid forager since she was a child. She sees food as fundamental to building and sustaining community and connection. Chef Tasha is currently a chef educator, teaching youth food literacy and culinary skills.
We’re Looking for LunchLAB Volunteers!
Feeding a school community takes a lot of hands! We’re looking for volunteers to help us welcome back students and support our team in delivering our program at Lord Roberts and Norquay Elementary.
Volunteers like Kevin make delivering LunchLAB a smooth and achievable process. Hear from him and his son Aksel on the magic of LunchLAB!
Take a Bite Out of Edible Education
This year, student chefs will be mentored through a series of hands-on, experiential edible education kitchen lessons with two special workshops in weeks four and six.
Find out more by exploring the LunchLAB Journey! Visit our post that details the Edible Education component of LunchLAB.
Menu Planning Principles
Ever wonder what menu planning looks like when feeding hundreds of students and the school community? We follow a three-step process to guide what we cook at LunchLAB:
As much as possible, we source a variety of local produce and other ingredients.
We take student feedback seriously and aim to serve familiar comfort foods, as well as introduce students to new and exciting foods.
LunchLAB meals are influenced by the Canada Food Guide, which provides guidelines for nutritious eating.
Learn more about how we plan our menus for LunchLAB by reading our Meal Planning Principles post.
Thank you for tuning in to our LunchLAB Community Newsletter, for any questions or comments, please reach out to lunchlab@growingchefs.ca!