Barcelona + Sostenible

On Wednesday 8 May, pupils from four city education centres came together at the Fontana Youth Centre to take part in the 5th meeting of healthy, fair and sustainable “Masterchef” centres, an event aimed at exploring the social, environmental and health impacts of our food.

The aim is to promote the active participation and cooperation of pupils, along with inter-generational exchange, through the art of cooking. For this reason, the teams that were formed consisted of nursery and primary school students, as well as secondary-school teenagers.

Furthermore, with the participation of educators from L’Ortiga, the agro-ecological cooperative based in Collserola, the children learnt about how the ingredients eventually reach the table, not only in terms of their origin, but also the impact their consumption has on the environment.

Making cooking a shared experience

Eight groups of children and young people were formed. First of all, they had to find an envelope containing the recipe they would be using. Each envelope contained one or two recipes for healthy breakfasts (according to how difficult they were to prepare) and listed the ingredients and utensils needed to make them.

Under a time limit, they had to visit the specially set-up shops and ask the organisers for everything they required: fruit, an oatmeal drink, chickpeas, beetroot, chia seeds, buckwheat, etc. The recipes were also the perfect opportunity for teaching students about foods that do not form part of their everyday diets.

Although it is true that each group was assigned a member of the teaching staff to supervise the activity and lend a helping hand where necessary, the secondary-school students soon adopted the role of helping and supporting their younger companions.

Identifying origin to assess consumer impact

After cooking together for about an hour, they had to determine what health and sustainability indicators were applicable to their dishes.

Using clues and questions, they had to investigate what indicators were suitable for their creations: made with local, organic and fresh produce, zero waste, sugar-free and 100% plant-based. An exercise that reveals what lies behind the ingredients they had used.

Once they finished cooking (and cleaning the utensils and tables they had used), the teams presented their dishes.

A rewarding day

Once the groups had explained their recipes, ingredients and indicators, how they had carried out their tasks and the challenges they had faced, it was time to taste the food. This was something that everyone really enjoyed. In reality, each and every dish enjoyed great success. The session itself was also very well received, as most of the participants were very positive about it, stating that they would really like to repeat the experience.