Lifelong healthy cooking and eating habits
Food and nutrition are critical to our health and well-being. However, the California Department of Education does not mandate nutrition education in its school system and virtually no schools provide hands-on cooking classes. Schools are facing further budget cuts in life skill development and rely on nonprofit organizations such as Kids Cooking For Life to fill in the gap.
Kids Cooking for Life (KCL) inspires lifelong healthy cooking and eating habits through their free, after-school cooking and nutrition classes for at-risk children ages 10-18. KCL aims to give kids tools for success throughout their lives and to enhance health outcomes in the low-income communities served. They do so by improving food choices and eating habits for children to ultimately reduce nutrition-related diseases and poor scholastic achievement.
They teach weekly 60-minute classes that include a short nutrition lesson on the health topic, and 1-2 recipes that the children help cook and then eat. The first class might concentrate on the importance of fruits and vegetables. Instructors will use USDA's "Choose My Plate" to demonstrate serving sizes and talk about the importance of eating fruits and vegetables of all colors of the rainbow. The children will then make recipes that incorporate healthy fruits and vegetables in the ingredients. Subsequent classes will focus on sugar and healthy alternatives. Instructors include the California Department of Public Health's "Re-Think Your Drink" curriculum and show children the amounts of sugar in common drinks consumed by this age group. Children then make simple recipes using fresh fruits and vegetables, giving kids a true farm-to-table experience. Additional lessons may focus on whole grains, fiber, and lean protein.
"Consider our friend Kim, age 10. Before joining our program, she’d play on the playground until her mother could pick her up or go home to an empty apartment while her family was at work. Thanks to your support, we were able to start a cooking program at Kim’s school, and now she and her sister learn about nutrition while having fun chopping and sautéing. Because these classes are free of charge, Kim’s family doesn’t have to worry about how to pay for them. We are incredibly grateful for the support of Marin Charitable to help make this possible." - Lara Rajninger, Executive Director
You can help us with our continued support of Kids Cooking for Life by:
Your support makes a difference.
Photo credits: Kids Cooking for Life
Comments