Yum-o! Co-hosts Kids Cooking Class at Food Network Kitchens

(New York, NY) — From October 15-November 12, 2007, Yum-o!, Share Our Strength, Food Network and City Harvest collaborated to host an Operation Frontline “Side by Side” cooking class at the Food Network’s kitchens in New York City.

For the past 13 years, Share Our Strength has offered Operation Frontline’s cooking-based nutrition education program for families at risk of hunger. Operation Frontline coordinates and trains volunteer chefs and nutritionists to teach 6-week classes on nutrition, healthy cooking and food budgeting for individuals at risk of hunger and malnutrition. Each class focuses on a different theme, such as the food guide pyramid, shopping wisely, or cooking nutritious meals; volunteer chefs and nutritionists create and demonstrate nutritious and low-cost recipes for participants to learn and try at home. Specialized curricula are available for children ages 8-12 (Kids Up Front), individuals living with HIV/AIDS (Eating Well), parents and children learning and cooking together (Side by Side), teenagers (The Power of Eating Right and Step Up To Eating Right) and parents of young children (Start By Eating Right).

For this recent “Side by Side” class, Rachael Ray stopped by to teach her Turkey Bolognese rollover supper recipe to parents and their kids, showing them how to make a delicious meal with leftovers that can be turned into a second and third night’s meal with different flavors.

"It’s always amazing for me to see how far kids and their parents come from Day 1 until the last day of the class," says Yum-o! Executive Director Andrew Kaplan. "I saw kids from age 5 to age 13, and everywhere in between, learning together about food, cooking and nutrition. On Day 1 no one knew each other, but by the last class there was a bond between all of the participants. Families were having each other over for dinner and sharing different family recipes – now THAT’S empowering! Strangers meeting strangers and bonding over food and cooking…that’s what it’s all about!"

If you are interested in bringing Operation Frontline to your community or would like more information about classes in your area, please visit their website.

As a core part of Yum-o!’s Feed program area, Yum-o! is partnering with Share Our Strength to raise money in support of this organization’s leading priority: ending childhood hunger in America. But through classes such as this one, Yum-o! is also expanding our Cook program area, which focuses on educating kids and their families about cooking, by leveraging the proven programming and reach of Share Our Strength to make the maximum impact on kids and their families. For more information about Yum-o’s! overall partnership with SOS, visit our Partners page.