In Jefferson County, there are limited occasions for inner-city youth to participate in hands-on cooking programs.  Improving cooking skills and knowledge of foods helps to promote healthy eating habits. According to Thomas & Irwin, food and cooking skills/food preparation are important for several reasons related to health, knowledge, empowerment, engagement, culture, food security, and fun.  An engaging cooking skills program targeting youth builds self-efficacy, food knowledge and literacy, self-confidence, and self-esteem, while potentially improving the social determinants of health. 

Jefferson County 4-H offered dozens of after school cooking programs across the city.  The two I worked with was Hawthorne and Bloom Elementary.   Partnering with the schools' Family Resource Coordinator, 4-H offered a 6 week 1.5 hour after school cooking program to 24 students.   This Fun with Foods program was new to both schools.  Students were taught about kitchen safety, food handling practices, healthy food choices, and experience cooking and tasting their foods.  

Weekly lessons focused on handwashing and kitchen safety, followed by making bruschetta, determining the difference between fruit and vegetables,  following by making homemade salsa, understanding measurements and tools, followed by pancakes from scratch, Using kitchen equipment such as ovens, followed by making personal pizza,  eating and identifying different vegetables, followed by making skillet enchilada’s, determining what is really in your hamburger, followed by making and tasting multiple burgers that are made from black beans, ground turkey and ground beef.  For each nutritional education lesson, participants prepared foods centered on the topic for the day.  Youth practiced using their life skills by utilizing basic math skills such as measuring, counting, tracking time, and reading comprehension.  Participants gained social skills by working together in groups and communicating steps and procedures. 

Not only did participants learn about healthy food and cooking habits, but they also gained a sense of accomplishment and an increase of self-confidence.  By completing an oral survey 96% of the participants tried foods they were once scared to try (example: zucchini, cilantro, and black bean burgers). 90% of the kids fixed multiple recipes at home with their family.  80% of the participants felt they learned some basics of nutrition such as portion size and healthy options.  Many participants increased their kitchen vocabulary and reading skills.  

Jefferson County 4-H is planning multiple after school cooking programs with these schools for the upcoming school year.

Thomas, H. M., & Irwin, J. D. (2011). Cook It Up! A community-based cooking program for at-risk youth: overview of a food literacy intervention. BMC Research Notes, 4(1), 495. doi:10.1186/1756-0500-4-49