Gather together with friends to learn about a topic.
Our bread arrives from France
For September 2006 I organized a group of 8 teens researching the topic ‘Bread Around the World.’ Each person including myself chose a country to study covering such areas as geography, history, government, culture, religion, agriculture, issues such as poverty or war, influential people and of course food; especially bread. The group met two times each month with more frequent meetings as our final project drew near. Group members where encouraged to visit local libraries, conduct interviews, read a variety of genre, watch films and use the internet to do their research. We discussed various possibilities for personal and group projects such as a film or skit, creating scrapbooks, a website, museum displays, or reports. Early on it was decided that each member would produce a scrapbook for their chosen country covering the various research areas. As the year progressed and our study turned toward hunger and poverty in each of the countries it was decided that we would create a hunger museum in cooperation with the Mariposa Museum in Peterborough.
To start off our topic of bread we discussed the basics of bread making. The main ingredients of flour, salt, leaven and water were considered along with special ingredients such as butter, oil, eggs, milk, honey, maple syrup, sugar, herbs, spices, cheese, all items that add interesting taste and texture to bread. We researched the variety of grains used around the world such as wheat, rice, corn, oats, rye, barley, millet, and less familiar grains such as spelt, teff. We experimented with various forms of leavening such as sour dough, wild yeast, store bought yeast, baking powder and baking soda.
Each month during the year we concentrated on a different country. As each participant’s country became the focus of the group meeting they would be responsible for reporting their progress with their
Getting into the spirit
country research as well as helping to plan a meal to be made together for that day’s lunch. Bread was always at the center of the meal. We made together injera from Africa, chapati from India, Mexican tortillas, French baguettes, Irish soda bread and Italian ciabatta. We also enjoyed music, stories, facts, statistics, among other important tidbits of information about each country. Other activities included a field trip to Orchard Hill Bakery where sour dough bread is baked in a brick oven, attending a talk with local farmers on the US Farm Bill, a visit to the local food bank, and several visits to the Marisposa to research various countries and prepare for the museum.
For our final museum project everyone had a variety of responsibilities. We planned for a window display at the museum, advertising that included a flyer and press release, a program brochure, hunger displays (Refuge Ration, How to End Hunger Poster, Global (Hunger) Banquet), a bread display (Breads Around the World), hands-on food displays (Grain Grinding, Kneading Bread Dough, Grinding spices), a skit and fundraising displays for Heifer and Free the Children. A raffle was held to raise money for Heifer and Free the Children. Participants talked with local businesses about their project as they requested participation in the raffle. Each participant’s country scrap book was also on display as part of the museum.