LEARNING THROUGH TEACHING KITCHENS

The teaching kitchen experience will be a huge part of the community outreach aspect of the project. There will be multiple types for different types of cooking/baking, as well as separate ones for different types of volunteering. The teaching kitchens will be used for the food service training, the nutrition classes, after-school programs, and volunteering efforts for the food pantry.

Teaching kitchens were chosen for the project because they have the power to enforce positive change in the community. A study done by Dr. David Eisenberg, Director of Culinary Nutrition at Harvard Chan’s Department of Nutrition, that was published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, showed that teaching kitchens can “favorably affect behaviors such as cooking confidence, dietary intake, exercise level, and mindful eating practices; as well as health markers like weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.” Additionally, cooking/learning to cook in general can be therapeutic and improve mental and physical health.

With a project with a heavy emphasis on the health and wellbeing of users in the space, teaching kitchens make the most sense in order to achieve that goal.