Food Education

Taste the diversity of South Moravia

Activity 1: Schools and teachers

Translation and local adaptation of the Slow Food Taste Education Kit “To the Origins of Taste”

The kit “To the Origins of Taste,” produced by Slow Food, provides a sensory education course to train children’s senses to recognize quality food. It can be used for groups of all sizes and ages. 

During the Pilot Action, the course will be translated from English into Czech, adapted to the local cultural situation, and printed for the use of Brno school teachers.

Delivery and evaluation of the educational course “To the Origins of Taste” at three schools in Brno

In order to evaluate the adaptation of the Taste Educational Kit, it will be verified by teachers in practical education with children at three Brno schools. A lecturer will train teachers in using the educational course. Afterwards, the teachers will test out the course in classrooms. 

Taste the season – seasonal menus for chefs and school cooks 

The best teaching tool about food is a good, tasty meal. Therefore, this activity will create a menu of various seasonal recipes and dishes of Brno and the South Moravian region. The recipes will highlight the diversity of fruits and vegetables typical of the region and will be prepared for use in professional and school kitchens, with pictures, ingredient lists, and preparation techniques. The menu will be available online for any chef to use, and will be printed in the form of a cook book for the public.

Online and print catalogue of local farms and products 

This activity will include research of farms and artisans that produce good, clean and fair food in South Morava; this will be initiated as part of the mapping of gastronomic heritage. Selected producers and their products, which help to preserve the local GCH, will be showcased in the online catalogue based on the www.ochutnejtemoravu.eu web portal, which is run by the Tourist Authority South Moravia. The catalogue will be used by chefs from the public catering sector to select local ingredients to prepare healthy and tasty meals and thus help preserve the GCH of the South Moravian region. 

Activity 2: Gastronomic heritage in the streets: exhibitions, tasting and cooking. 

See and taste the biodiversity of the Brno region

In cooperation with the Mendel University Brno and its Faculty of Horticulture, exhibitions of the seasonal fruits and vegetables of the South Moravian region will be held during. The goal is to show children and the general public the rich diversity of traditional fruits and vegetable available locally in different seasons. The exhibitions will be accompanied by tasting sessions, presentations by university students, and cooking workshops.

Taste South Moravia from Farm to Fork

There will be practical, hands-on workshops for children and the public to demonstrate and teach about traditional cooking, food preparation, and food preserving techniques. We will show people how to cook traditional South Moravian dishes, how to preserver fruits, vegetables and herbs, and how to make bread at home. The goal is to bring the farmers, chefs, and consumers together to celebrate the joy of cooking local, fresh, seasonal food together and thus learn about the rich GCH of the region. 

What:

• Practical workshops: hands-on workshops guided by chefs and artisan producers showing how to preserve fresh produce. 
• To the Origins of Taste: practical workshops for Brno school pupils; tasting a diverse range of fruits and vegetables.
• Chef’s table: selected chefs will prepare a three-course menu from the exhibited produce and the public will be invited to share the table with the chefs.
• Seed exchange: during the exhibitions, the public can bring their own seeds and exchange them for other seeds on display.
• Round table with farmers and chefs: local farmers and chefs will be invited to discuss how they can cooperate in bringing fresh produce and local seasonal products to Brno kitchens.

Children’s Farmers’ Market 

The Children’s Farmers’ Market activity is designed to provide teachers with a wide range of engaging and informative food- and farming-related activities. The activity gives pupils a chance to immerse themselves in an exciting 8-week project in which they learn about food and farming. 

The Children’s Farmers’ Market will be a real farmers’ market held in the Brno Zelný trh (the Cabbage Market), organized by selected Brno schools and their pupils with the cooperation of the City of Brno. Pupils will be instrumental in organizing the market and setting up and running their own stalls, selling products that they have grown and baked, and inviting local food producers (bakers, butchers, vegetable growers, cheesemakers, beekeepers, producers of jam and chutney) to sell their goods. Members of the local community will be welcome to browse and to shop for fresh local produce.