WATCH: Food and climate change come together in this cooking class

April is Earth Month. To mark it, we are sharing past coverage of environmental issues.

• Empowering youth to combat climate change
• Teaching children about healthy and sustainable foods
• More after-school programs in the spring

Climate change is a growing concern in today's society, which is why the EcoCooks Club is teaching kids the importance of cooking meals that are both healthy, and sustainable.

“Our main aim is to empower youth to take action to combat climate change,” program facilitator Harriet Thompson-Ball told Kelowna10.

“And we do this by educating them about our food, the food system, our food choices and how those can impact climate change.”

The non-profit program has a goal to teach children a variety of different cooking skills and recipes.

“Every week we get together and we learn to cook plant based meals that they can take home to cook for their family,” Thompson-Ball said.

“We also learn about climate change, and different aspects of that, that are related to the food system. Things like land use, emissions, water use and pollution, and many more.”

When asked about the inspiration for the program, Thompson-Ball explained its focus around climate change.

“I think it’s kind of the feeling of being a bit helpless in the face of climate change, which adults definitely feel and arguably children feel even more.... We’re often told about the problems and not so much the solutions, so we want to empower children to take action and feel like they have agency in their future,” she said.

The program is involved in many community partnerships. This allows for a variety of opportunities for the children to learn about sustainability, and to connect with the planet.

As part of one of those opportunities, the EcoCooks recently visited Helen’s Acres Community Farm on a field trip, where they received hands-on education about picking and planting food.

“We have lots of community partnerships, which is awesome,” Thompson-Ball said. “The Okanagan Fruit Tree project which we are here with today is running our field trip. So getting the kids out planting garlic I think is today.”

“They help harvest and save a lot of produce that is going to waste, and distribute it through the local community, which is amazing - just preventing food waste.”

The club aims to host more programs, providing even more kids with the tools for a healthy lifestyle, and a sustainable planet.

“In the spring we are going to have three more after-school programs running at the Salvation Army,” Thompson-Ball said.

“One of our partners, the Elements Society, is currently working on our in-school programming, so we’re hoping to take EcoCooks into schools in the new year.”