Kids in the Kitchen
By: Matthew Carella, Tiffany Friese, Jonathan Pacheco, Hun Xue
Kids in the Kitchen is a semester long, after-school cooking program that meets once a week, every Thursday from 3:30-5pm. The goal of the program is to introduce healthy eating and cooking techniques from a young and impressionable age. If cooking healthy meals is seen as something that is not only doable but is a fun and social activity it will be more attractive and hopefully will lead children to form their own healthy habits that they can implement on their own and spread awareness in their own community.
Food will be sourced from nearby grocers with funds coming from government grants, fundraising and donations.
We researched a neighborhood in South Chicago that was notably underserved. The specific location was just to serve as a model, but our program is designed to be replicated and applied at underprivileged schools across the board. Information sourced from uchicagomedicine.org/community-health
In the program there is a meal plan scheduled for each week, so that there are no repeats in recipes. The foods are designed to be as nutritious and varied as possible, providing students with a balanced meal, a lesson in healthy eating and cultural enrichment through the exploration of world and community foods. Students will eat a meal together at the end of each meeting paired with a reflective discussion lead by volunteers, further enforcing the value of community cooking and healthy eating.
Each week students receive a new recipe card to put in their binder so that at the end of the semester, they will each have their own recipe book!
Our binders are made from sustainable materials and students are encouraged to decorate to show of their personal styles.
At the end of each lesson, leftover food is packaged and sent home with the children.
Students receive branded aprons and chefs hats at the start of the program.
Our styling is based off of children's art. With playful colors and a mixture of hand-drawn and vector elements all are meant to evoke a sense of fun and youthful energy.