Cooking With Kids, Inc.

Cooking with Kids educates and empowers children and families to make healthy food choices through hands-on learning with fresh, affordable foods. Well-nourished kids are ready to learn, but providing nutrient-rich foods only works if kids choose to eat them! Our unique hands-on approach gets kids excited about eating healthy foods and supports the academic success of our students in the process. Cooking with Kids provides pivotal opportunities for students to experience first-hand why cooking matters. As we tell our students, “We take care of ourselves when we cook. We use math and science when we cook. We learn about our world when we cook.”

When kids help prepare healthy foods, they are more likely to eat and enjoy them, which is why hands-on learning is at the heart of Cooking with Kids programming. Students are highly engaged and able to see real time results in their work. Cooking with Kids classes are also welcoming opportunities for parents to be involved in their child’s education and build classroom-to-kitchen bridges that support healthy eating efforts at home.

Cooking with Kids nutrition and cooking activities take place throughout the regular school year and during the summer. Working in close collaboration with school district administrators and teachers, Cooking with Kids educators conduct cooking and tasting classroom lessons that feature fresh, affordable foods and recipes from around the world. These lessons provide fun and positive experiences with healthy foods and give kids confidence in the kitchen. In addition, fruit and vegetable promotions occur regularly in cafeterias, supporting Farm to School and scratch-cooking efforts in school cafeterias. Cooking with Kids staff also work closely with student nutrition staff to provide technical support and culinary trainings. Local farmers and chefs (Superchefs™) are important partners in both classroom and cafeteria initiatives.

Cooking with Kids programming is evidence-based, and USDA-funded research conducted by Colorado State University confirms Cooking with Kids increases preferences for fruits and vegetables and self-efficacy in children (1, 2). These are important first steps towards creating life-long healthy eating habits and battling childhood obesity. As a 2nd grade teacher reported, “Cooking with Kids speaks to the way that young children learn and remember their learning. It is hands-on and actually becomes a part of each student in a way that is inescapable. They actually eat their learning! CWK is one of the best parts of school.”

1. Cunningham-Sabo, L, Lohse, B. (2013). Cooking with Kids positively impacts 4th-graders’ vegetable preferences, and attitudes and self-efficacy for food and cooking. Childhood Obesity. 9(6): 549-556. doi:10.1089/chi.2013.0076
2. Cunningham-Sabo, L, Lohse, B. (2014). Impact of a school-based cooking curriculum for 4th grade students on attitudes and behaviors is influenced by gender and prior cooking experience. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. 46(2), 110-120. doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2013.09.007

Cooking with Kids has a 25+ year track record of successful partnership with public schools, various community organizations and thousands of family member volunteers, bringing sustained, evidence-based nutrition education programming to thousands of children each year. Cooking with Kids has been recognized locally and nationally as a leader in experiential nutrition education, and published research in peer-reviewed journals (Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior and Childhood Obesity) demonstrates the efficacy of CWK programming: “Cooking with Kids increased fruit and vegetable preferences, especially with vegetables . . . experiential nutrition education improved cognitive behaviors that may mediate healthful food choices.” Additionally, UNM Prevention Research Center evaluation showed statistically significant increases in fruit and vegetable consumption among Cooking with Kids participants (New Mexico SNAP-Ed Evaluation Report, Theresa Cruz, PhD, et al., 2015).

Started in 1995, Cooking with Kids has grown from an all-volunteer effort in one school to an integral part of school communities in 23 public schools in three school districts. Our highly skilled staff has nurtured generations of students through rich and unique hands-on education with food in the majority of public elementary schools in Rio Arriba and Santa Fe Counties. Cooking with Kids is positioned for further growth in Northern New Mexico, with the aim of impacting even more children and families.