ROCK HILL The third annual York County 4-H cooking camp took place from June 3rd to June 5th at Winthrop University at the Human Nutrition Lab. The camp was organized by York County 4-H agent Kristin Kunde with senior 4-H Healthy Lifestyles counselors Kolby Allen, Natalie Estes, Dacy Freeman and Addie Page. York County 4-H members Riley Dimou, Dixie Freeman and Jase Simpson also helped lead the camp.
“I’m actually a Winthrop alumna. I reached out to a friend who helped connect me with the human nutrition department here, and they were the ones that allow us to use the facility. We’ve used it for the past three years for cooking camp, and it’s always a wonderful space for kids to really get a hands-on experience inside a kitchen,” Kunde says.
The camp teaches kids how to cook healthy foods in a safe way, says counselor Dacy Freeman.
“4-H cooking camp–we host it every year–and it’s where we have kids from the ages of 9 to 13 that come in for three days, and they learn different types of food as well as cooking safety and just ways that you can keep your kitchen clean and people safe when you eat your food…So every year they host a Summit cooking camp and all of the counselors have to go and participate in it to be able to help. You learn healthy cooking and you learn ways to cook and prepare food, and then you come and you bring that knowledge,” Freeman says.
Kolby, Natalie, Dacy and Addie had participated in the South Carolina 4-H Cooking Like A Chef Summit training at the Center for Advanced Technical Studies in Chapin in January of this year where they learned how to be instructors at the camp and to teach the kids how to cook healthy food safely.
Each day of camp campers prepare fun and healthy nutritious meals such as crepes and smoothies for breakfast and grilled chicken, mac and cheese, and roasted broccoli for lunch.
4-H senior and Rock Hill FFA president Kolby Allen helps lead the 4-H cooking camp as a Healthy Lifestyles counselor.
“I am teaching all of these younger kids how to learn how to cook for themselves, be more independent, and be self-sufficient in the kitchen,” Allen says.
The kids also learned teamwork skills by learning to work with others throughout the camp. Each day of camp the campers helped each other prepare healthy breakfasts and lunches such as pancakes, eggs, sausage links, homemade fish sticks and yeast rolls. The final challenge of the camp was for the kids to make all the components of their meal instead of the work being divided. Then they plated their meals before enjoying lunch.
Winthrop graduate student Katie Price shared her expertise and assisted students in the Human Nutrition Lab throughout the camp.
“I love to see them get creative in the kitchen. I love when they look at the recipe and they follow it, but they say, ‘Hey, what if we add a little bit of vanilla extract or some honey?’ And I’d just love to see them, like getting that hands on learning experience, too, through measuring and cutting and just the actual process of cooking,” Price says.
The York County Current 