Food Bank For New York City’s CookShop

CookShop, the core nutrition education program of the Food Bank For New York City, gives low-income children, adults and teens the knowledge and tools to adopt and enjoy a healthy diet and active lifestyle on a limited budget.

With hands-on workshops reaching over 40,000 New Yorkers across all five boroughs, CookShop teaches nutrition and physical activity information, as well as cooking skills, fostering enthusiasm for fresh, affordable fruits, vegetables and other whole foods.

In this way, CookShop empowers communities to fight childhood hunger, obesity and diet-related disease in neighborhoods where household income is low, access to healthy foods is limited, and rates of obesity and diet-related disease are high.

Using a “train-the-trainer” approach, every educator participating in the program is provided with the tools needed to implement CookShop, including training, ongoing technical support, complete curriculum materials and all of the food, supplies and equipment needed for cooking lessons and class activities. CookShop’s focus areas include:

CookShop Classroom
Using hands-on exploration and cooking activities to foster children’s enjoyment and consumption of healthy foods, as well as their appreciation for good nutrition, CookShop Classroom is used in approximately 1,300 public elementary and after-school classes.

CookShop for Families
CookShop for Families offers workshops for parents and guardians of students in schools participating in CookShop Classroom. Through simple, healthy recipes using fresh, affordable ingredients, the workshops offer the skills and knowledge needed to make CookShop part of their families’ daily lives.

CookShop for Teens (EATWISE)
EATWISE, our Cookshop program for teens, gives young people the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about what they eat and drink, and trains them to become peer nutrition educators.

Community CookShop
A joint venture of the Food Bank and the Mario Batali Foundation, Community CookShop offers nutrition and health education workshops for parents/caregivers and their children at New York City food pantries and soup kitchens. Using recipes developed by Chef Mario Batali, participants learn strategies to achieve a healthy diet on a limited budget.

CookShop Social Marketing: Change One Thing
Through the Change One Thing campaign, CookShop Social Marketing encourages food-stamp eligible New York teens to make one healthy choice per day to move toward a healthy lifestyle.

Visit the CookShop page on the Food Bank For New York City’s website to learn more!