Arla Fonden receives attention in Canada: First international intern to FOODcamp

The work of Arla Fonden is increasingly being noticed – also outside the Danish borders. This September, FOODcamp will welcome its first international intern, who will join the kitchens and experience the students’ joy of cooking.

 

Interns are not unusual at FOODcamp. Typically, the interns are young students who want to experience our approach to working with food, meals and health in a learning perspective. But this spring, we received a different application. It was written in English and came from 42-year-old Nicolas Granger from Canada.

 

From TV to FOODcamp

Nicolas first heard about FOODcamp in a Canadian TV show about the Danish food system. This piqued his interest to visit Denmark and experience and learn from the concept, activities and didactic approach of FOODcamp. And from end of August, his wish is now coming through.

 

A common vision

Neither cooking nor teaching is new to Nicolas. He brings many years of experience as a chef along with a master’s degree in teaching. Additionally, he has spent years travelling and living in France, Japan and Mexico, where he has studied and learned the local food traditions. But most importantly, he shares the vision of Arla Fonden to make children and young people independent everyday chefs, capable of taking responsibility of their own health and life style.

Nicolas has spent the past many years teaching children and adults about global food culture and cooking. Among others, he has worked as an instructor in corporate cooking classes, at summer camps for children and teenagers and as a coordinator for cooking concepts for children. About his engagement in food activities for children, Nicolas says:

“I believe that cooking is an important skill to develop early on, as it will have a positive long-term impact on the students’ future lifestyle. By providing them with knowledge, resources and pride, educational projects like MADlejr are far more fertile and efficient than most government-based initiatives.”

 

Valuable knowledge sharing across borders

Nicolas, who lives in Montreal in Canada, is set to be the first international intern at FOODcamp. During his three week internship, he will become part of the FOODcamp team and get the opportunity to experience the students’ engagement and development up close.

These years, Canada is also seeing an increasing focus on food habits and health. Therefore, Nicolas is excited to bring home new knowledge to Montreal that may hopefully inspire further development of food activities and initiatives at the school he works at. In addition, Nicolas is contemplating a PhD research project for next year for which this experience may also prove valuable.

The director of Arla Fonden, Sanne Vinther, is also excited about the opportunity to share the experiences made at FOODcamp.

“It is great to see the work of Arla Fonden being noticed outside of Denmark. We are gradually seeing more and more countries make an effort to develop good cooking skills with children. That is why we are curious to hear about Nicolas’ own experiences from Canada, and we are looking forward to give him an exciting and rewarding stay.”