Exploring food with young children!

Commun’assiette is a community of practice initiated by Équiterre, with Aliments du Québec among its many collaborators. The project aims to mobilize institutions across Quebec to offer more healthy, local, and eco-responsible food within their food services by sharing knowledge and experience among stakeholders in the field.

Now bringing together 16 institutions and 3 food service management companies, most of its members agreed to participate in the Les institutions mangent local! event, an initiative of the Aliments du Québec au menu program. This includes several early childhood centers (CPEs), such as Le Jardin des Frimousses and Garderie Bonne Aventure, located in Lachine and Montreal respectively.

Tasting new foods and experimenting with ingredients are among life’s pleasures. This is especially true for young children, who literally explore food with all their senses. To inspire activities designed for little ones, Commun’assiette provides numerous tools and resources available to its members.

“This event is an opportunity to create connections between producers, food services, and institutional users,” explains Lyne Royer, Project Manager for Sustainable Food Procurement at Équiterre. “Highlighting local foods can be done through simple actions such as creating themed menus or establishing a vegetable garden in a CPE’s yard.”

“It’s wonderful to see children discovering food! Observing a worm in their salad, for example, also helps them understand the important role it plays in the ecosystem needed to grow vegetables.”
— Lyne Royer, Project Manager for Sustainable Food Procurement, Équiterre

Le Jardin des Frimousses

A short conversation with Isabelle Girard, chef and food services manager at Le Jardin des Frimousses, quickly reveals her passion—even after 34 years in the kitchen. She jokes that she has 80 children.

“We already emphasize local sourcing, we’re in contact with market gardeners, and we pass these values on to the children—a more challenging audience since they are still learning. We have to explain everything, from where vegetables come from to how a meal is prepared.”

An Indigenous-inspired meal was organized to introduce children to First Nations cuisine. On the menu: sagamité soup, trout, organic confit garlic, homemade mayonnaise, carrots, and cauliflower. Bannock bread was served with Quebec strawberry and blueberry jam, while the children created dreamcatchers.

A pop-up farmers’ market was also held in the CPE yard, where local market gardeners sold vegetables to parents, staff, and neighbors. Tastings of pickled beets, cucamelons, and salted herbs served on tomatoes grown in the CPE garden were very popular.

Children also spent time in the kitchen wearing aprons and chef hats, proudly cutting vegetables with wooden knives before eagerly devouring the dishes they had prepared.

“We decorate the plates because we eat with our eyes. This is even more true for children, for whom eating is a game,” says Isabelle Girard. “The texture and cuts of the vegetables, the sauce that accompanies them—nothing is overlooked to introduce foods in an appetizing and fun way.”

La Garderie Bonne Aventure

In the city, creativity is required to create a natural learning environment. Having a garden and inviting farmers to visit the daycare provides the solution.

“There is more concrete than soil in Griffintown,” says Erin O’Connell, director of Garderie Bonne Aventure located in this developing Montreal neighborhood. “But we have a rooftop garden, and our children were able to choose their favorite vegetables during the farmer’s visit. They also cooked with chef Peter Parsons.”

“Taste and smell are essential for children. We let them smell herbs and handle vegetables—it has an immediate effect on them. They love it. The farmer explains how things grow and how they are cared for, which encourages them to try new foods.”
— Erin O’Connell, Director of Garderie Bonne Aventure

Since 2020, farmers have visited the CPE with baskets of locally grown vegetables that parents can purchase. For the director, being recognized by the Aliments du Québec au menu program is important.

“Buying local can sometimes be a logistical challenge—it’s faster to shop at Costco than to visit producers,” she explains. “But the quality makes it worthwhile. Local products disappear quickly because they are so delicious!”

The event Les institutions mangent local! is an initiative of the Aliments du Québec au menu program (developed by Aliments du Québec and Équiterre, with support from the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) in collaboration with the 100% Local Challenge.

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