Food

Come Saturday, there's an opportunity to stem the rising tide of junk food assaulting our children's taste buds.

The ladies of the Junior League of Anniston-Calhoun are setting aside two hours of the Winter Treasures expo for Kids in the Kitchen. It's a program sponsored by the Association of Junior Leagues International, and it's designed to teach children to select, prepare and enjoy good food.

Amen, Ladies. Carry on.

"Educating our children about healthier eating, and healthier ways of eating, is key to them making wise choices," says Kara Silvers, one of the League members coordinating the kids' event and a professional food educator. "This is something we think can really make a difference."

A personal testimonial: I love having children (mine or any other) mess up my kitchen with concoctions, simple and grand. I also realize that the impending, unavoidable mess of Kid Chefs is one of the main reasons parents might discourage an open-refrigerator-and-pantry policy.

Well, Saturday's event will allow young folks to see how fun — and easy — it can be to make their own culinary inventions. Moms and Dads, this is a chance to let their creative cooking juices flow … without dealing with batter on your ceiling or fingerprint jungles on the countertops.

You get to go shopping at the League's market while the kids are, well, in the kitchen.

The League's overall childhood nutrition project goes much deeper than a fun Saturday at the City Meeting Center. Tool around on the organization's Web site (kidsinthekitchen.ajlil.org) and you'll find a slew of useful tips, tricks and helpful habits that children can get into. The Web site is easy to navigate, and if you're budding young cook is 'net savvy, let him or her take the mouse and explore the components that can be a first step toward a lifetime of healthy eating and cooking.

I'll admit that I'm a ready evangelist for programs that teach children, teens (and even adults) how to fend for themselves in a kitchen. It doesn't take much for me to dial up a sermon that laments how disconnected we've come from home-cooked goodness and how dependent, as a society, we've become on the trough of junk that our children now believe passes for food.

It takes small steps to turn around such a national mindset. And this week is as good a time as any to start. Children can cook, and there are dozens of "recipes" that even the smallest among them can prepare without bloodshed, fear of salmonella or fire outbreak.

That doesn't mean I turn my 9-year-old loose with flaming kebabs, but he is going to make his first batch of chili tonight, with his little sister riding shotgun at the spice cabinet.

Kids in the Kitchen. Now we're cookin'.

Kids in the Kitchen

When: Sat., Oct. 25
Time: 3:30-5:30 p.m.
Where: Anniston City Meeting Center

Tickets to Winter Treasures (which begins Friday) are $5 in advance, $7 at the door. Children 12 and under are free.