We all remember staring down at a patterned china plate and being told we had to eat every bite, no matter how we felt about it. The philosophy at Schoolyard Roots is slightly different: try everything at least once, and do so respectfully.

Which is why a Schoolyard Roots teacher was surprised to see one of our 4^th grade culinary experts sitting on the sidelines during a cooking lesson, scrunching up her eyes and plugging her nose as she forced herself to keep working on a plate of swiss chard.

He explained to her that it was okay not to like all the food, and that a lot of people have their own tastes when it comes to vegetables. Many of our staff and volunteers don’t even like every kind of vegetable! He praised her for having courage and trying something new.

Still, our hardworking chef wasn’t comfortable with not finishing her food. She told us in a conflicted-sounding tone, “I don’t like how it tastes, but I want to try my best to eat it anyway because I know we all worked so hard together to make it!”

Ultimately, she realized it was okay not to clean her plate, but it goes without saying that we were impressed by the pride she took in the work of her class!