Photo Credit: Nicole Scarborough
Eat a Rainbow Every Day theme connects healthy nutrition with fresh produce from gardens and local farms.
The Challenge: When pioneering chef Alice Waters accepted the 2013 Legacy for Children Award presented by Children’s Discovery Museum, she challenged the Museum to make a bold move and role-model serving healthy foods to families. Taking up the challenge, the Museum’s Board of Directors approved Our Pledge to guide the process and help set priorities in the quest to find a way to make good food good business.
The Food: With the help of noted food consultants Karp Resources, Children’s Discovery Museum underwent a two-year process to reimagine the role of food in the visitor experience. We found a committed food service partner in Nicole Jacobi who shares our enthusiasm for fresh and homemade foods that demonstrate how to Eat a Rainbow Every Day.
The Café Space: BCV Architects, with the distinction of designing the Ferry Building in San Francisco, agreed to create a new look for the café to transform it into an appealing place to eat food as well as promote our educational message. BCV created an aesthetic that uses reclaimed and recycled materials throughout the café space. The Rainbow Station service counter communicates the Museum’s commitment to fresh and healthy foods. Modulus joined the project to create the overhead sculpture of colorful acoustic baffles that combine artistic vision and noise abatement. Longtime supporter Toeniskoetter Construction provided the workmanship that turned the FoodShed vision into a welcoming and beautiful reality.
The Learning: Imagine a learning sequence like this: role-playing shopping at the Farmers Market, making a healthy pizza with all of the colorful fruits and vegetables from your bag, venturing outside into Kids’ Garden and seeing similar produce growing, and then having lunch at FoodShed and choosing some of those fruits and vegetables as part of your meal.
FoodShed opened in June 2015 to the delight of visiting families, and is ready to serve you.
