Food Study Classes - Inspired by Dr. Antonia Demas’s (Ph.D.) Workshops and The China Study By Prof T. Colin Cambell
How do I get my child to eat greens?
This is a question many parents ask with a note of desperation in their voices. Well, here at Castelli International School, students love to grow their own greens AND eat them!
Our Deputy Head, Ms. Natasha, was first inspired by Prof. T. Colin Cambell’s best selling book The China Study, which is the story of the largest nutrition study ever done that shows clear evidence of how certain foods are linked to diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and many of the cancers. The China Study mentions the work of Antonia Demas, a Ph.D. student of Dr. Campbell’s. Dr. Demas had been developing plant-based curricular units of study integrated with the academic disciplines for many years. Her curriculum also introduces students to the pleasures of whole foods via sensory-based exposure. Therefore, beginning at a young age, students will want to consume healthy whole foods and, as a consequence, develop a way to promote wellness and prevent disease. Her curriculum, Food is Elementary, uses food as a hands-on vehicle to teach Science, Math, Social Studies, Art, Music, Ecology and Literature. At Castelli International, we have been implementing this Food Studies curriculum since 2014. The lessons worked so well that we invited Dr. Demas and her daughter, Ariel Demas, multiple times these past years to give inspirational workshops to our students.
OPEN DAY COMING SOON
We would love for you to come and visit our school, so you can see just how special we are. We have a rolling programme of enrolments for our the First Grade Elementary School and Sixth Grade Middle School.
Please leave your details and we’ll contact you and arrange a convenient time to visit the school and meet the teachers.
Antonia and Ariel Demas doing their lessons
Food art
Castelli International pupils engage with food studies
Ms. Natasha was also fortunate to meet Prof. T. Colin Cambell both in the USA and Italy and discuss with him how favorably the Castelli International School students responded to Dr. Demas’s curriculum. Prof. Colin Cambell stated:
I would love to see the Italians work with Dr. Demas and the Castelli International School to show the world that we need to put our children, education and food first. A model food literacy program developed sustainably in Rome will demonstrate the value and need for this type of education.