Kildala Elementary School was one of only four schools across Canada to win Cheese4Change and receive a $5,000 prize.

Cheese4Change launched this year and is a national program that aims to teach youth about sustainable food habits and how to incorporate them into their everyday lives. The program was started by Tre Stelle, which is a cheese company, with the intention of showing kids they can play a role in supporting the planet through the use of sustainable and accessible foods.

Kildala Elementary submitted a rhubarb shortcake recipe using sustainable ingredients from around Kitimat.

“We went out and took the kids into the community and picked up some local resources and off we went,” said Shawny Metz, the one behind the recipe.

Metz who is a pastry chef said this is one of the recipes she uses quite often and to submit it for this program she changed the recipe to incorporate sustainable ingredients.

Now the plan with the winnings is to put it towards a school garden. Metz says they also want to collaborate with the local First Nations to look into traditional foods and harvesting things sustainably and learn about what is available in the area.