Some Sardis secondary parents got a lesson in eating local from their kids this month.

Every, year Sardis culinary arts students, with a little help from chef instructor Donna Frost, get to show off their skills by preparing a gourmet dinner for parents.

This year the meal featured a number of fresh B.C. products thanks to a new provincial program called Take a Bite of BC.

Developed by BC Agriculture in the Classroom, the initiative sees B.C. producers donate products to school culinary arts programs so students can learn about the benefits of cooking with locally grown food.

The dinner at Sardis, served in a festively decorated school cafeteria, featured an abundance of seasonal B.C. produce.

Chicken, provided by the BC Chicken Marketing Board, was curried and roasted, while the root vegetables and cabbage donated by BC Fresh were roasted and braised. Cranberries from Ocean Spray rounded out the menu with a cranberry almond shortbread tart.

"We really enjoy the products we get because it often makes us try new ways of using these foods," Frost said. "For example, the cabbage and parsnips. The students love being at the grassroots of trying new recipes and deciding if they are good or not."

One of the new recipes they tried that night featured Parsnips provided by BC Fresh.

The root vegetables might not be everyone's first choice when it comes to cooking, but they were a hit at the Sardis dinner in the form of a delicious spice cake covered in cream cheese icing and topped with coconut shavings.

"The students really enjoyed preparing the dinner for their parents," Chef Frost said. "They seemed very proud of their accomplishments and parents loved the food and even asked for recipes."