Sharing family meals provides nourishment of all kinds. It's healthy for the body and healthy for life in general to spend that time together with food in the middle.
A Prince George nutritionist is calling on her townspeople to get a video into the Better Together BC video contest called the Hands-On Cook-Off. Great prizes are up for the winning and great family times are up for the having.
"The contest has been going on for 10 years and it is about getting people excited about cooking and enjoying food with family, sharing, interacting in the kitchen, and not professional but just people inspired to enjoy good times with good food," said Lindsay Van Der Meer.
After a modern period of society sinking deep into a culture of disconnection from grassroots food relationships, where processed meals and snacks have become the norm, where factories do more for food preparation in the modern household than the families themselves, a movement has been gaining momentum to know more about where our food comes from, how it is prepared for better health, and how that relates to getting the most out of our meals. Heritage, culture, history, community, family connections - it all relates to food.
"My hope is that it sparks an interest - in food and in closer family time," said Van Der Meer. "This is enjoying one of life's greatest pleasures, and how that can be good for our bodies, good for our communities and good for our families. Eating is a foundational part of our lives, every single day, and it can be so much more than just obligatory."
The contest calls for three-minute (maximum) videos, applicable to two categories.
One is for multi-generational cooking, where at least two generations must be involved in the making of the recipe.
One is for getting kids involved, where at least two youth aged 18 or under must participate in the making of the recipe.
"This contest is a tradition that many B.C. families look forward to each year, and for good reason," said a statement from the Hands-On Cook-Off organizers.
"New research confirms that families that cook together and share meals on a regular basis experience valuable lifelong benefits, such as improved dietary intake and healthier overall eating habits, including higher intakes of fruits and vegetables and lower intakes of fast food and takeout meals for both female and male youths in both high-functioning and low-functioning family environments."
More than $4,500 in money and in-kind prizes will be up for grabs, including a grand prize of $1,000 cash, as determined by a panel of notable judges including:
Chef Ned Bell, Ocean Wise executive chef and culinary director of the Vancouver Club
Chef David Hawksworth, chef/owner of Hawksworth Restaurant Group
Claire Newell, travel expert and media personality
Susie Wall, style and entertainment expert
Samantha Gutmanis, food editor and blogger
MLA Lana Popham, B.C.'s Minister of Agriculture
Anna Brisco, chef, registered dietitian and nutrition educator
"We are in an age where social media circulates a lot of videos, and some of them are really good, so people might be afraid to enter because they aren't confident they could make a professional-grade video, but that's not what we're after," said Van Der Meer. "We're just hoping for simple homemade videos. The important thing to see those recipes being made together."
Van Der Meer said the act of getting kids involved in the kitchen has demonstrated side benefits like less pickiness, willingness to try new foods, improved social skills, better overall nutrition, and even better scholastic results.
"I love to cook and I have a four-year-old who also loves to cook," said Van Der Meer.
"It's messy, and it doesn't always turn out the way the recipe called for, but it's so easy to see the enjoyment and the benefits that set in even at that age."
To enter a video, go to the Better Together B.C. website (bettertogetherbc.ca/contest) for submission links and also handy tips on how to film and edit the video. It is free to enter and the deadline is May 15.
