[Sadly, the Market Kitchen is no longer in existence due to the property becoming unavailable for future use]
Between 2015-2017, The Adelaide Central Market Kitchen was a buzzing food and education hub located on Level 1 of the Adelaide Central Market. For two years I worked part-time as the in-house dietitian for the Market Kitchen, owned and run by Mark Gleeson alongside his other award-winning food tourism business, Central Market Tours (now Food Tours Australia). I co-developed a delicious range of specialty tours, challenges, and educational food & nutrition activities for schools, corporate groups and the public. Some of the products I worked on and delivered during this time are described below.
Interactive school tours of the Adelaide Central Market are still available through Food Tours Australia. Unfortunately the cooking experiences are currently unavailable.
HEALTH & NUTRITION EDUCATION
For school groups, we covered the Health and Physical Education area of the National Curriculum, adapted to each year level. Excursion packages included a tour of the market accompanied by cooking activities in the kitchen. Topics covered included the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, nutritional differences in the core food groups (including tastings on tour), and where to find reliable nutrition information. Depending on year level, other areas covered include:
- Comparisons of mass-produced and artisan products with tastings
- The food system & where our food comes from; social & economic factors to consider when buying food
- Environmentally sustainable food
- Recommended portion and serving sizes
- Benefits of eating local and seasonal
- A mindful eating exercise
- A healthy food cooking demonstration
- Putting together a healthy lunchbox activity
- Food fads & diets
For international students, we provided orientation tours of the markets includes an introduction to nutrition, common Australian foods and cooking styles. We cover the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating and local examples, where to find cheap produce, and make suggestions for quick, cheap & healthy meals. This tour additionally provided participants with some recipes & basic meal starter pack.
For corporate groups, we delivered a ‘hot topics’ tour with tastings, and team-building cooking activities. Topics can include where to find reliable nutrition information, comparisons of mass-produced and artisan produce, key nutrients for physical and mental health, mindful eating, food for longevity, debunking diets and sustainable food. Cooking activities varies depending on each group’s needs, but can include a ‘shop & gather’ or ‘ready-to-go’ cook-off. For a more high intensity team-building activity, the Market Challenge was not to be overlooked!
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE EXCURSION
We designed an interactive school excursion exploring the “past, present, future” concept in Australia explored through food. This began with a 30-minute guided tour of the market focusing on the variety of foods available, the various cultures represented – why they came here and when, nutrition, and sustainability. This was followed by a cook-off, with three teams preparing a different dish using the same basic ingredients; the first team prepares food as it would have been made in the past, the second team uses today’s trends in food preparation, and the third prepares a dish as it may be prepared in the future. Students all had an opportunity to taste food from the different eras, and as a group discussed the differences with regards to health, nutrition and sustainability. This tour encompassed some of the HASS, Health and Physical Education, Design and Technology and sustainability aspects of the curriculum across all year levels.
SUSTAINABILITY TOURS
For schools, this tour was aimed at all year levels to cover the cross-curricular priority of sustainability. We showed students a sustainable kitchen in action, taught waste management, and discussed the importance of thinking globally/acting locally including carbon footprints and food miles. Their tour included a brief history of the market, a look at sustainability within the market place and some taste comparisons of mass-produced vs. artisan-produced items such as bread, cheese and tomatoes.
MULTICULTURAL TOURS
This flexible tour covered the history of cultural influence in South Australia with tastings from numerous cuisines found throughout the market. We introduced guests to various stallholders who were born overseas to share their stories firsthand about moving to Australia and the influence of food on their culture.