NYC Kids Learn to Pick Carrots over Cupcakes

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By Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 10/22/2009

Nearly 600 K-12 classes in low-income areas of New York City will learn of the joy of collard greens, carrots, and even squash as the Food Bank of New York City expands its CookShop program and brings more educators on board.

Porter House New York’s executive chef Michael Lomonaco teaching a few of the program’s 14,000 students how to prepare, and then enjoy, Celebration Burritos.
Photos: Donjé Photography

“That’s the beauty of CookShop,” says Aine Duggan, vice president for research, policy and education for the Food Bank of New York City, a hunger relief organization. “Public school teachers give of their time to be trained for this program.”

CookShop, which helps fight childhood hunger by encouraging the development of healthy diets, this week kicked off its 16th year with a celebration at the Great Hall at the privately funded college Cooper Union, which included Porter House New York’s executive chef Michael Lomonaco teaching a few of the program’s 14,000 students how to prepare, and then enjoy, Celebration Burritos.

That’s essentially what will happen at the school classes as well, where every two weeks, elementary school students, teens, and their teachers learn about a new vegetable, fruit or grain, then scramble up the ingredients to taste. Participating schools must also have at least 50 percent of their students eligible for food stamps, and adults can sign up for classes, too, as long as they're eligible for food stamps as well. .

“In New York, that’s about 70 percent of our schools,” says Duggan.

Funding for CookShop comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) while Food Bank of New York City supplies the ingredients, equipment, and trains teachers.

CookShop’s expansion, from 500 classes to 600 this year, comes on the heels of a USDA-commissioned report, “School Meals: Building Blocks for Healthy Children,” calling for increases in the fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat and fat-free dairy that K-12 children are served in their school breakfast and lunch.

Kids making Celebration Burritos.

New York City's low-income neighborhoods suffer from a high incidence of diet-related diseases such as diabetes, obesity and hypertension—resulting largely from a diet high in fat, calories and sodium, says the Food Bank. And in these neighborhoods, a lack of healthy food sources, combined with an overabundance of inexpensive, low-quality food options makes healthy lifestyles difficult.

Food Bank of New York City believes it’s tackling this very issue with CookShop—and that by better educating children on how great vegetables and grains can taste, students can learn to make healthier choices in what they eat.

Teachers and schools seems to be responding, and children reaping the reward, as educators are lining up to learn more about the magical world of cabbage and brussels sprouts—and passing that along to their students.

“The staff do their own recruitment, and they hear about us through word of mouth,” says Duggan. “Schools are calling us.”