Nutrition

With nutrition a focal point, our chefs lovingly prepare organic meals on a daily basis, while classes in Experimental Flavors awaken taste buds. As children practice self-sufficiency, they serve themselves, learning to take what they will eat, and eat what they take. A Certified Wildlife Habitat and Green School, ECF is nearly plastic free and en route to being zero waste as Ecology and Climate Science inform the curriculum.

At ECF children experiment weekly with new tastes, discovering flavors & savors. When researching methods to prepare vegetables while retaining their high vitamin content, students have found a favorite in the carrot. As an ingredient, the uses of this root vegetable is vast.

Steaming, grilling, baking, roasting, and shredding for muffins and cakes retains many nutrients that are easily absorbable by the body. Keeping carrots out of water for lengthy periods, and eschewing boiling, will aid in the retention of those important vitamins. Shredded for salad or eaten whole is another favorite for a crunchy, munchy dose of beta-carotene, a nutrient named after the vital carrot.

Making the connection between food and health, a student remarked, “C’est bon, je ne serai plus malade avec les vitamines.” (It’s good, I’ll never be sick with the vitamins.)

Organic carrots are considered one of the world’s healthiest foods, with a combination of phytonutrients, including Vitamin A in the form of carotenoids, hydroxycinnamic acids and polyacetylenes. They are also robust in biotin, vitamin K, dietary fiber, molybdenum, potassium, vitamin B6 and vitamin C, and include manganese, niacin, vitamin B1, panthothenic acid, phosphorus, folate, copper, vitamin E and vitamin B2. Wow! Bravo to the carrot!

While preparing a shredded salad in class, which is as simple as it is healthy, a young cook exclaimed: “J’adore, je vais voir comme Batman.” (I love it, I’m going to see like Batman.)