Potatoes New Zealand has developed a policy that every child going through the NZ  Health Camp system has positive potato experiences gaining skills to cook potatoes and understanding why potatoes are a good food choice. So in the course of their stay in camp they do potato activities and when they leave the camp they take a Crazy Potato Lovers Pack – complete with potatoes, baked beans, stickers and recipes. The pack contains everything the child will need to go home and cook some meal for his/her family. While there was a little apprehension initially at preparing their own meal, there were some pretty awesome final results. These are some of the comments from the children…

“this is cool” “I can’t wait to eat it”,,“I don’t like potatoes” (This child actually did eat and enjoy their potato),“I love the cheese”, “Are we really going to eat these?”,“I’m going to fill mine with everything”

When the potatoes were handed out at the end of camp the children were very proud to tell their parents that they had ‘baked a potato and made a meal’ and keen to go home and show their parents their new skills. This has turned to a positive learning experience for many of the parents too – with parents sharing how they like potatoes. Without exception the children and parents were very excited to get the potatoes to take home.

Special thanks to Turners and Growers for supplying the potatoes and Heinz Watties for supplying baked beans.