Cooking Together uses hands-on cooking classes to teach families how to make the most of food donations!

Our classes designed for kids—who are just beginning to develop eating habits—but adults love them too! Classes teach skills (not recipes) and focus on the easy incorporation of vegetables into meals kids like.

The Problem

Fruits and vegetables are essential for growing brains and bodies but 9 out of 10 kids in the U.S. don’t eat enough vegetables. Veggie-avoidance is common among kids from every sector of society. We think of this as ‘psychological barriers’ to food access.  But those who also suffer physical barriers to food access, especially kids who are unhoused or living in food deserts, have far greater hurdles to overcome. Studies show that the dietary habits we develop as kids follow us into adulthood. When you consider that unhealthy eating is a leading cause of death in our country, getting kids to love vegetables can literally save lives.

Our approach

Our program takes a playful approach! Research shows that when kids interact with whole vegetables, the vegetables are demystified and kid’s get interested in eating them. Our teachers don’t tell kids they should eat their veggies.  Instead we provide kid-safe knives, portable butane stovetops, and we let them cook!  And if they sample their creations….that’s their choice ;)

This program, designed in partnership with UCLA’s Teaching Kitchen addresses physical and psychological barriers to food access. It teaches kids (and parents too) that they really do like vegetables. This program has been piloted at the Westwood Transitional Village. We are working to expand into all of our market communities.