(Kid Made Campers pose at their farmers market craft booth. Soon they’ll have a new opportunity: running a real food cart | Photo by TL Brown)
Can young kids run a real, certified food cart? Can they prepare delicious food safely—and learn to become entrepreneurs? According to Angelena Bosco, founder of Kid Made Camp, the answer is a definite yes.
“Working for money is fun,” says Bosco. “Kids can do anything.” As she knows from the many youth and children’s cooking classes she has taught, “They love preparing and serving food.”
Kid Made Camp’s inaugural food cart camp will take place August 19–23. Campers will staff a real food cart and make smoothies on Sunday, August 25 at Sisters Farmers Market. Classes are limited to a small group, so that all students get plenty of hands-on learning time: preparing, making, selling, and interacting with their community.
“Kids don’t usually get the opportunity to do real work where they have responsibility, are trusted to make decisions, perform necessary tasks, interact with customers and be taken seriously,” Bosco says. “The food cart provides all of that.”
Bosco will instruct the kids in safe, healthy usage of her Simple ‘N’ Fresh food cart, which serves fresh foods inspired by Central and South American cookery. Collaborating with Kid Made Camp, the cart will also serve a new menu item: smoothies.
Students will use produce sourced from local farms on-site at the market, along with fruit and other wholesome ingredients. “Kids like to be creative,” Bosco notes. “They take chances with ingredients.” She will help them develop their ideas into tasty, consistent recipes.
Many are familiar with Kid Made Camp’s art and craft entrepreneur camps in Bend and Sisters. The Kid Made experience “shows them they have options,” Bosco says. “Kids are smart, have fabulous ideas and don’t fear sharing them. At our camps, they learn that their talents are valuable. They learn how to be confident in presenting themselves.”
The community is invited to request a smoothie or other menu item at the Kid Made Camp “takeover” of the Simple ‘N’ Fresh food cart at Sisters Farmers Market on August 25. Sisters Farmers Market takes place every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Fir Street Park, one block north of Cascade Avenue/Highway 20.
The August dates for the food cart camp are new; registrations are now being accepted at kidmadecamp.com. Kid Made Camp will also present its standard entrepreneur and arts camp at The Environmental Center in Bend during the week of August 5, culminating in a booth at Northwest Crossing Farmers Market on August 10.
Patrons are encouraged to ask campers questions about their ingredients, creative process, or what they have learned at camp.
“Kids can do it,” said Bosco’s new partner in the Kid Made business, T. Lee Brown. She teaches journalism and edits the Kids in Print section of The Nugget Newspaper in Sisters, where kids can see their writing and artwork published in a real newspaper. “We just have to give them the chance.”
Additionally, Kid Made offers free/donation-optional activities for all kids who visit Sisters Farmers Market. The Kid Made booth pops up about twice a month during Market season. Families are invited to step inside, make a craft or try on some face paint.
Sisters Farmers Market is open every Sunday through the end of September, from 11am to 2pm at Fir Street Park. Kids are invited to bring swimsuits and towels to enjoy the splash pad fountains. Details may be found at sistersfarmersmarket.com.