Teens: What you put on your plate can help the planet!

Teens have a reputation for BIG appetites, and they're making choices every day about what they put on their plate. But do they realize that the food choices they make could actually slow global warming? 

That's the main point of a presentation that Sonia DeMarta, a teacher with Kids Cooking Green (www.kidscookinggreen.com), will be making in early April to Boston teens. Her workshop is called "Food Choices and Global Warming." 

Sonia has been invited to speak to students at Boston Green Academy (www.bostongreenacademy.org) on April 8, 2014. She'll be there during the charter school's Project Week, which BGA's school social worker Lauren Kelton says is a chance for students to engage in "hands on, experiential learning." Lauren says she was "impressed with what Kids Cooking Green was doing in schools," and saw an opportunity in bringing a one-day class to Boston Green Academy as part of her weeklong program on cooking and health/wellness. She says she wanted students to see that good, local food can come from "urban environments" not just rural farms. 

After Sonia and the students cover the relationship between food choices and agriculture, energy consumption and climate change, the students will have a chance to make one of Kids Cooking Green's most popular dishes: homemade ravioli. BGA's Kelton says one of the best parts of this experience will be that the teachers and students will be "sitting down to eat together." With good food and a program that supports BGA's "green theme" in education, Kelton says she's hoping to see Boston Green Academy and Kids Cooking Green "grow into a partnership."

For more on Kids Cooking Green, check out the exciting list of upcoming Spring 2014 classes and Summer camps at www.kidscookinggreen.com.