Dinner-Party Project: The ABCs of Breaking Bread

Each week is devoted to a different facet of the plan. Week One emphasizes the importance of sharing meals and culminates in a guest list and handmade invitations delivered to the children's families. Week Two is all about designing a menu and learning basic kitchen skills and safety. The children decide what to serve, with guidance from the pros about how to make a meal well balanced and healthy. Kris Buda recently organized an event in Cleveland for 65 children and their guests. "We decided on chicken surprise," she says, "which allowed each of the kids to bread it the way they wanted. They could choose pretzels or cornflakes or potato chips." (Nutritional compromises are sometimes made in the interest of the larger lesson.) Depending on location, the week could include a visit to a farm to see ingredients at the source. Week Three concentrates on etiquette and table manners. And Week Four features the big night. Children set the tables, greet their parents and politely pull out chairs for them to sit down. Kids prepare as much of the meal as is safe and age-appropriate and then join their families for the first of what is hopefully many successful family dinners. Week Five is all about discussing the event, planning future meals and writing thank-you notes to all who helped.

Jordan has followed up with families after dinner parties. The experience, she says, "changes the way families think about their lives." The project also seems to have a lasting impact on the teachers who help lead it. Many say it inspires them to continue to integrate food and cooking into their curriculum. "We've had teachers from Pennsylvania to California tell us, 'We now cook at home differently. We value food differently.'" And so the next step for Spoons is teacher training. This fall the first group of teachers will attend national training at the Culinary Vegetable Institute in Milan, Ohio. That way the lessons of the Dinner Party Project might be reinforced all year long.