XÀBIA IS THE ONLY MARINA ALTA TOWN TO HAVE A SCHOOL KITCHEN

This week, CEIP Port De Xàbia inaugurated the “CUINETA DE PORT”, an initiative of the Cuinnovart Project that the school started two years ago and now aims to evolve the pre-school and primary education centre into a promoter of healthy consumption habits amongst students and, by extension, in all families.

The inauguration was attended by Xàbia mayor Rosa Cardona, the councillor responsible for Education, Maci Pérez (PP) and other members of the local council as well as the regional secretary for Education, Daniel McEvoy and the general-director for Educational Innovation, María del Rosario Escrig, from the Generalitat Valenciana. Also attending were the school’s faculty, directors from other education centres in Xàbia, and parents of students at the school.

The fully-equipped kitchen at CEIP Port de Xàbia has all the necessary safety measures for the school-children and includes a stand which will allow for exhibitions or explanations by the chefs and all the professionals who have been involved in the project.

The director of CEIP Port de Xabia explained that “when they came to do that work, they had to be in the kitchen, but our kitchen – that of a school – was not friendly,” adding that “in this controlled space the boys and girls will be able to participate in this project.”

She claimed that, together with schools in Catarroja and Peñíscola, the Xàbia kitchen is one of only three “CENTRES CUINERS” in the entire Comunidad Valenciana that have a facility of this type, adding that the Marina Alta region is “very rich” with products from both the sea and the land and that, at the port school, almost 80% of the families “live in one way or another from gastronomy”.

She explained that the entire educational community at the school has been involved in the project as well as the local administration: “from the construction brigade, the janitor… everyone we have asked for help has responded to us”.

The Education councillor, Mavi Pérez, expressed her pride that the Xàbia school is part of the project and referred to the advantages of schoolchildren “learning while having fun” in day-to-day education.

Mayor Rosa Cardona said that Isabel Moreno and her team have carried out an idea that has resulted in the inauguration of the kitchen, thanks to the support of the boys and girls, their families, and the school team, as well as the local council. She added that a kitchen “unites everyone” and that it is a place that will allow schoolchildren to learn “order, discipline as well as cleanliness”. She also highlighted that the school has been working for years to promote the “products of Xàbia, both of the sea and of the land” amongst schoolchildren.

The inauguration was closed by the regional education secretary, Daniel McEvoy, who explained that the regional government department is “committed to innovation through projects such as the school kitchens which develop a way of encouraging boys and girls to acquire skills related to healthy eating habits”. He added that these school kitchens work on the “two basic pillars of health, such as physical activity and healthy food” which fits perfectly with “the Mediterranean diet and the fantastic product of the sea and the land we have”.

He concluded by highlighting the “union of the entire educational community and of Xàbia” to carry out this school kitchen project, a project that has the full support of the Generalitat Valenciana.

He then gave a few encouraging words to the schoolchildren who were present at the inauguration, inviting them to continue learning and enjoying a facility such as the school kitchen where dishes are prepared for students to enjoy whilst they watch and learn.

At the end of the event, a group of young students prepared a snack based on pumpkin and freshly squeezed orange juice which they offer to all attendees in Leo’s Corner, a garden space dedicated to a former director of CEIP Port de Xàbia.