Lifestylist® Blog

One of the most rewarding things that this Lifestylist® is a part of every year is Days of Taste which is sponsored by the American Institute of Food and Wine. Fourth and Fifth graders from local schools come down to the Dallas Farmers Market to learn about food and have a lot of fun! This year my group was the best I've ever had, and I think a lot of that can be because of a great teacher and the chef that taught the class - Chef Joanne Bondy from the Gaylord Texan. I always learn as much as they do, and after Chef Joanne teaches them about the senses, buying local produce from farmers and how to make a pasta salad from scratch the teams get to go down to the Farmers Market and buy the ingredients for their own salads.

My team (The Grinches since we were buying green and were at the green table) did a great job of negotiating with the farmers so that not only did they stay within their $5.00 budget, we actually had $1.00 to give back to the program! I think they were all amazed with how much food could be purchased for $4.00 that was healthy and delicious. Teaching kids about food and getting them to try new things isn't a matter of tricking them - you just need to let them have fun and try things their way. Who would have thought a pasta salad with avocado, corn, green peppers and kiwi would taste as great as it did?

Congratulations to the AIWF Dallas chapter for another amazing event.