In this issue of our BCAITC Teacher Champion series, we profile BC teacher Brent McGimpsey. Discover his passion for educating students about BC agriculture, food, and the environment.

Q: What school do you teach at? A: Garibaldi Secondary School in Maple Ridge.

Q: What grade(s) do you teach? A: 9-12.

Q: How and when did you first learn about BCAITC? A: I first learned about BCAITC from my mentor and practicum teacher, Chef Trevor Randle.

Q: How long have you been teaching students about BC agriculture and food? A: This will be my 4th year teaching about BC agriculture and local food.

Q: What are the most important things that you want your students to learn about BC agriculture and food? A: The concepts closest to my heart are focussed around buying locally produced BC food, and then taking the time to treat the food with the love and care that it deserves.

Q: BCAITC has over 500 free downloadable resources including lesson plans, activities, videos, recipes, and more! What is your favourite BCAITC resource and why? A: Jokingly, my favourite BCAITC resource is my mentor, BCAITC Chef Trevor Randle. On a serious note, the plethora of recipes available on the BCAITC website are a treasure trove of great ideas inspired by local chefs using BC ingredients.

Q: What is your favourite BCAITC program and why? A: This is a difficult question to answer because BCAITC has so many great programs. I love being a part of Take A Bite of BC as all teaching kitchens get to incorporate free local items into our daily service. I also love to nourish every student every day and the BC School Fruit and Vegetable Nutrition Program helps facilitate this. 

Q: What is an agriculture or food-based project you have recently implemented in your classroom? A: At Garibaldi Secondary, we are focused on creating authentic, placed-based learning experiences for our young students. This year we have purchased a large, spit-capable BBQ so we can roast whole animals and provide the incredible learning experiences that are inherently tied to this method of food production.

Q: Do you have any advice for other educators on how to integrate agriculture and food education into their curriculum? A: Home Economics and Culinary Arts curricula in BC are some of the broadest and most malleable structures for education in the world. This allows us as educators to bring our creativity and personal approach to food into the classroom in an authentic and honest way that students can engage with and relate to. I want to see, and be a part of, all sorts of “foods” classes move away from traditional Eurocentric, Colonial-inspired methods of cooking, into a new era of authentic placed based cooking that highlights local agriculture and pays respects to the people and food that lived on this land before us.

About the Teacher Champion Series: This monthly BCAITC series features BC teachers and school staff who are passionate about providing agriculture and food education to K-12 students. For more information, contact our Communications Coordinator, meghan@aitc.ca.