After a year of giving thanks for five successful years of business, the DMA Solutions team decided to take five hours out of the office to donate time and energy to a good cause at the Dallas Farmer’s Market. We volunteered at the Days of Taste, designed to teach fourth and fifth grade students about the food journey and how it weaves its way through daily life from farm to table.

During the event, children are given the opportunity to learn about various flavors from a professional chef, hear a presentation from a local grower and shop in the market for fresh fruits and vegetables on a limited budget.

With fifty adorable fifth grade students from the John F Kennedy Learning Center in attendance, each volunteer worked with a group of five students. Our mission as volunteers included three important duties:

1. Guide the youngsters through a taste seminar where they learned the difference between flavors like salty, sweet, sour and bitter, all led by a professional chef
2. Escort them through the Farmer’s Market with a budget of $5 to teach negotiation tactics and purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from merchants in order to…
3. Make a harvest salad together that would feed all six people in the group (five kids, one adult volunteer – though some of us doubled up)

The overall experience was unbelievable, and we each came away learning something completely different. Here are our “ah-a” moments from the Days of Taste event.

Like adults, children are inspired by “connection” and when they are inspired, they enjoy and consume!
- The Entertainer (Dan’l Mackey Almy)

Involve the kiddos in the decision, purchase and preparation process, and they’ll eat anything!
- The Optimist (Megan Zweig)

A hands-on experience – from distinguishing tastes to purchasing items to preparing a meal – made such a difference in the children’s enjoyment of the food they were eating.
- The Editor (Erica Schiller)

The kids’ initial reluctance to participate changed completely and they became eager to work together and try new things.
- The Health Nut (Brock Nemecek)

When presented in a fun and challenging experience, the kids were up for trying most anything.
- The Analyst (Marci Allen)

Posted by: The DMA Solutions Team

Tags: Brock Nemecek, Dallas Farmers Market, Dan'l Mackey Almy, Days of Taste, Erica Schiller, giving back, Marci Allen, Megan Zweig

Posted Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 10:54 am and is filed under All, Culture, Philanthropy, Team Building.