Growing Chefs is a local charity that runs a food literacy program in elementary school throughout the Lower Mainland. It was started way back in 2005 by a professional chef that realized that there was kind of a lack of connection to our food and our food knowledge in the broader community. There were some chefs in restaurants that wanted to volunteer their time, skills and knowledge to share that particularly with children.

The Program Director, Amanda Adams said this about the role of volunteers in their organization:

“We’re a fairly small charity. We have about five staff right now but have over 200 volunteers that helps us actually deliver our program. So our programming would not be possible if it weren’t for our incredible volunteers that help us actually deliver our program and build those community connections. They’re really the heart and soul of our organization.”

The proactive effort from volunteers at Growing Chefs is one of the main reasons why the organization is able to function the way it does.

The founder, Chef Merri Schwartz was a professional pastry chef and she’s still a member of the board who is actively engaged with the organization. According to the Program Director, Amanda Adams, this is the purpose of Growing Chefs is as follows:

“So we recognize that there are too many kids that don’t have access to healthy food and aren’t connected to the food they’re eating, where it comes from, how it’s prepared and so we really want to build stronger connections between kids and the food they’re eating, to help build a strong sustainable food system for the future and ensure healthy, sustainable food for individuals, communities and our broader environment.”

Growing Chefs is a treasure to the community it serves. They are inspiring the future generation to take better care of their health and to pay more attention to the food that they’re consuming.