“Start them young, reinforce some basic cooking, [and] they will stick with real, healthy food,” writes one mom.

One concern shared by many mothers like the one above is that kids are not eating healthy enough during school lunch hours – or that they simply choose not to eat the healthy foods that parents pack for their kids. It’s a big issue with young parents and educators, especially with the growing rate of diabetes among young children in North America. With kids going back to school in a few days, it’s an issue that's back on the agenda for many.

Sunrise Soya Foods has always been a strong advocate and supporter of healthy diets. That’s why we’ve supported a program called Project Chef. It's an interactive lesson designed to immerse children in the process of cooking healthy, delicious foods. It’s been so successful in reaching out to the students that it’s being adopted throughout the Vancouver School District.

The Globe and Mail, a major publication in Canada, wrote an excellent article featuring Project Chef and how it’s changing the way children view their food and their diets. Before we showcase that article, here are just a few examples of what kids wrote to us about their experience at Project Chef. Take a look below.

Letters written (left-to-right) by grade 4 students Tony, Angela, and Cecila.

"We also would not know which foods are healthy, and we wouldn’t know how to protect ourselves from boiling water. I’m thankful for Project Chef and for getting to cook great healthy foods, thank you.”
Tony, Grade 4

“I had lots of fun cooking with the chefs. I am thankful for having Project Chef at our school. I learned how to make veggie and stir-fry.”
Angela, Grade 4

“Last week we did Project Chef and we learned how to cook a lot of food using a stove top. After when we were done cooking we turned our kitchen into a dining room table.”
Cecila, Grade 4

The response from the kids has been amazing. We receive many others just like above thanking Project Chef and Sunrise Soya Foods for supporting this program.

Learn more about Project Chef by this feature written by Fiona Morrow from The Globe and Mail.

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What are the snacks you like to eat?" asks Barb Finley of a class of 9- to 11-year-olds at Vancouver's William Osler Elementary School. The responses are, predictably, set squarely in the chips and chocolate camp. "What about healthy snacks?" Ms. Finley counters. Thirty sets of shoulders shrug in unison.

Ms. Finley smiles: This is exactly the challenge she relishes.

A teacher turned chef, Ms. Finley is heading an experimental school program with the Vancouver School Board called Project CHEF, which teaches students in Grades 4 and 5 about healthy eating and nutrition, and shows them how to prepare and cook a range of dishes. The privately funded project was piloted in one school in conjunction with the school board last fall, and earlier this month they began a rollout to nine more Vancouver schools.

To read more, please see the original article here.