BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation (BCAITC) is proud to announce the launch of the Spotlight Series on Pork. The introduction of the educational resources takes place in conjunction with the Take a Bite of BC delivery of pork and other delicious British Columbia grown ingredients into 55 BC secondary schools with Culinary Arts programs this month.

The Take a Bite of BC program directly impacts 6,784 grade 11 and 12 Culinary Arts students and also helps influence an additional 59,000 students to eat locally grown dishes on a regular basis in school cafeterias. The provision of pork to the Take a Bite of BC classrooms this April is thanks to the generous donation from the BC Pork Producers Association. This Take a Bite of BC delivery also includes:

• Cheese (courtesy of BC Dairy Association)
• Mushrooms (courtesy of Highline Mushrooms West Ltd.)
• Beets (courtesy of BCfresh)
• Green beans (courtesy of BC Frozen Foods)

Take a Bite of BC teachers and students can use the Spotlight on Pork tools to learn about BC agriculture and farming. Home Economics classrooms and homeschool students (or anyone else interested in cooking and food) can also download the free resources from www.bcaitc.ca for 24/7 learning online. The multi-faceted toolkit includes the following resources:

• Activity: A curriculum-linked Palatable Pig Puzzle teaches students more about the farm story.
• Recipes: Students can fine-tune their culinary skills while making delicious pork recipes created by BCAITC’s Chef Trevor Randle including BC Meatballs with Pasta and Tomato Sauce, BC Potato and Bacon Chowder, and BC Bacon Penne Alfredo.
• Grow BC: Students can explore Grow BC, an interactive GIS map and story resource, to learn the story of pork. This resource provides straightforward integration into class curriculum.

“I’m excited to teach the Culinary Arts students at Maple Ridge Secondary about pork,” said Maple Ridge Secondary and BCAITC Chef Instructor Trevor Randle. “In addition to trying delicious new recipes and developing their culinary techniques, the students will learn about the hog industry and the hard-working farmers who work to bring pork from farm to table,” Randle continued.

Pat Tonn, BCAITC’s Executive Director, echoed Randle’s comments, “We appreciate the support of our partners to make these valuable culinary resources available to BC schools. The generous donations help students learn about locally sourced pork and how to incorporate this farm fresh ingredient into healthy meals. The experiences will help develop lifelong appreciation of food and where it comes from,” Tonn continued.

The new Spotlight Series on Pork compliments the existing Spotlight Series on Duck, Eggs, Cranberries, and Apples.  Enjoy!