Chef Gail Hall knew how important good food and active outdoor recreation activities are for a healthy lifestyle. Education of what you eat and your health is a growing concern, especially now that statistics show that no longer is 50% of the Canadian population overweight and/or obese. Current reports on the weight of Canadians, state that 60% of the population is obese!
Education is a key to help young people and families understand that they can do something to change this growing problem. ChefGail was excited to be invited by Dr. Doug Klein, an Edmonton Family Doctor, to help facilitate a day-camp project developed by the Department of Family Medicine, at the Unversity of Alberta.
CHANGE Adventure Camp started off with a pilot day camp in July 2016 for 9 to 12 year olds. Between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm, kids spent lots of time outdoors being active (yes, without cell phones), made their lunch and snacks (that's where ChefGail comes in) and took the information home to share with their families. A second day camp took place in August 2016.
The City Market on 104 Street understands the need for programs such as this and generously donated funds to offset the costs of the food workshops in the first year. Thank you so much!!
The number of camps was increased in 2017 and 2018 and will continue in future years. For more information on the CHANGE Adventure Camp project and to register for the camp go to campchange.ca.
Oh, and just to ensure that you are actively involved Dr Doug Klein challenges the City of Edmonton to do 1 Million Stairs. Step up as teams or climb up as an individual. Your goal is 10 flights of stairs (15-30 min). Find your favourite staircase (Glenora and Hawrelak have beautiful city views) and raise your feet and money for a great cause. Only have 10 min? See how many stairs you can do in 10 minutes. Challenge your friends. The cost for the event is free but we would encourage participants to raise $50.00 and teams to raise $300.00. To register for the step challenge go to Step Challenge. Money is raised through Metabolic Syndrome Canada for Change Adventure Camp.
On June 25, 2016 Chef Gail, Dr. Doug Klein and the hosts of Global Weekend News, prepared three dishes that were prepared by the kids during the pilot camp. Here are the links:
Breakfast Sandwiches
Make Your Own Pitas
Homemade Granola Bars
