Food Technology

When we hear the word ‘technology’, straight away we think of machinery, equipment, apparatus, instruments, computers, tools, etc.  What about food technology? Well, it is a specific branch of technology that focuses on the processes involved in the preparation and manufacture of food. It encompasses the ingredients, materials, food processing and cooking equipments and the manner of preparing the end product that is, food. That said, food technology is an interesting and attractive topic that forms a huge part of the early childhood curriculum. Children simply enjoy it.   Smorti (1999) has put it aptly that “process cooking” is a purposeful, technological activity which meets children’s learning needs (p.6).

Our early childhood centre looks after children from different ethnic groups. It is therefore natural for us to teach food technology with a multi-ethnic flavour as this is in line with our anti-bias curriculum.

Today, I was demonstrating to the children how to prepare Chinese dumplings and explaining to them the various steps of making a dumpling.  Not many of them were familiar with Chinese food.  Being a novelty item to them, most of the children were enthusiastic and attentive.  Some sat around the table and those without seats stood around to watch and observe.  First, I showed them the pre-seasoned chicken mince which I bought from the supermarket. The process of mincing chicken meat was explained to them by showing them pictures downloaded from the internet. Next I showed them a piece of flour pastry.  I told them it was a piece of ready-made pastry, a processed food. I explained that one can make many pieces of pastry from dough formed by mixing flour with water, then flattening and rolling it out into a large piece of pastry and finally cutting it up into many smaller pieces.

Each child was given a turn to stir the ingredients and then to pass on the bowl to the next child to do likewise. They were learning about turn-taking.  I showed the children how to wrap the pastry with the ingredients in it and to seal the edges together to form the shape of a Chinese dumpling.  The dumplings were collectively boiled in an electrical cooker filled with boiling water. 

All these processes are part the food technology experience for the children to learn how to prepare a food item which is different to what they are accustomed to in their own respective cultures.  Through this exploration, they develop “some early concepts of the value of appreciating diversity” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 66). 

From the hands-on experiences and what is shown and spoken to them, the children learn that using a grinder, chicken meat can be turned into mince. Food material, flour, can be changed into pastry by mixing it with water. The children also learned that when fully boiled, raw ingredients wrapped around by pastry can become edible food. Here children have “opportunities to explore and discuss how things change and how they can be changed” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 91).

They also learned about safety precautions when handling sharp objects or when they are near to hot objects. This is in line with Well-Being Strand, Goal 3 which states that “children develop increasing knowledge about how to keep themselves safe from harm” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 52).  They learned about the importance of hygiene when handling food. All these lessons relating to food technology will reinforce what they are being taught at home about food safety and hygiene (Gonzalez-Mena, 2008; Ministry of Education, 1996). 

Other food processes and processing equipment can be explained to the children. A simple one will be to show the children how fruits can be turned into juice by using the juice extractor.  An organised trip to a food processing factory would be well received and this  would certainly enhance their learning even further.

Reference List

Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2008). Foundations of early childhood education: Teaching children in a diverse society. (4^th ed.). Boston, United States of America: McGraw Hill.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

Smorti, S. (1999) Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, No.19 Autumn 1999, 5-10.