Humus makes me think of Grade 11. Every time I eat it, I think of grade 11. Whenever I think of any type of herbs, I think of grade 12. Sprouts? Lunch time in Grade 8. Tofu? Grade 7 memories come flooding back. Way before it was cool to be healthy and to be vegan, I learned about good eating at Waldorf school.
I think the school had more veggies than carnivores.
As a huge carnivore who loved my weekly McDonalds burger and shake, coming into Waldorf, I never really heard of herbs, sprouts and dishes you can make with chickpeas. It was all about mean meat, brawling beef, fatty fast food fetishes, and cavity candy chillouts.
When I got into high school and took Life Skills, we learned how to cook. Not bake, like most schools do. But cook. Cook dishes that were healthy.
Enter the humus.
I learned about a whole new appreciation of new foods. New tastes. New smells. I learned to try everything at least once. I learned this green stuff wasn’t That bad after all.
Increasingly after my high school days, I have taken on a liking for more nutricious foods. Fast forward a decade later, and I’m basically a part-time vegetarian. Not because it’s the In Thing to do these days. But because it’s the right thing to do. The healthy thing. It was my days at Waldorf experiencing these new tastes and smells that got my stomach accustomed to the spices and sprouts and mashed up veggie dishes that I enjoy so much now.
I hear there’s a dance troop going around town these days urging kids to eat healthy and making raps about healthy eating. Funny how so many years ago, Waldorf didn’t have to do that. We just did it.
It was a lifestyle thing.
Waldorf’s legendary Village Market is still open every Saturday at the school located at 9100 Bathurst Street in Thornhill. Click Here for more info.
correction: it's actually 9100 bathurst street. sorry about that.
correction: it's actually 9100 bathurst street. sorry about that.