Who knew nasturtiums tasted this good?
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The SVP Family Service Group found out Saturday, June 26, as we experienced urban farming and sustainable dining during our first-ever “The Value of Fresh Food for Your Family” event. (See more photos on Facebook!)
Organized by Sara Finkelstein (below), who with her husband, Lowell Weiss, have been SVP Partners for two years, the event drew about 20 SVP Partners and their children to tour an urban garden, then make a dish for their own lunch at a Fremont-area restaurant built on the cornerstone of sustainability.
Guiding us through the urban garden was Colin McCrate of Seattle Urban Farm Company. Colin showed us what’s fresh, and even better, he encouraged nibbles! It was a great way to introduce new produce to our children. Highlights were the sweet sugar snap peas, the bees buzzing in and out of three hives, and the delicate, peppery nasturtiums—who knew you could eat a flower? One child even came up with a fresh produce combo, wrapping a strand of chives around a sugar pea and nasturtium for a tasty, elegant treat.
From there, we journeyed south to the private kitchen of Homegrown restaurant in Fremont, where chef Rob Milliron (who has also appeared on the Food Network) worked with us to create a luscious, simple salad with the ingredients from Colin’s garden. Rob and Homegrown partner Brad Gillis (who happens to be the son of longtime SVP partners Ann and Steve Gillis) did a great job accommodating our group, providing crates for our smallest gardeners to stand on so they could follow along. The kids and their parents learned about the benefits of fresh local food, tasted how fresh a sugar snap pea can be, and experienced some great community building among SVP families.
You know you’re onto something when a big group of kids and parents suddenly goes quiet—save for the crunching of their sugar snap pea salad with raspberries and mint vinaigrette. What a delight to see so many forkfuls of green being shoveled into small mouths. Thanks to Sara and SVP for organizing such a unique event that fed our minds and our bodies!
SVP partners and their kids are invited to continue or join the series with Part II: The Value of Fresh Food for Our Community, which will involve a service project at Marra Farms, a provider of fresh food to local food banks. The event will be 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Aug. 21 at Marra Farm in the South Park neighborhood of Seattle. Capacity is limited, so RSVP today to Lisa Merrill at lisa@merrillimages.com.
Check out the full list of Family Service Projects...
Photos by Lowell Weiss
