Fighting Obesity by Teaching Children to Make Good Food Choices
Raquel, as chef and owner of A Pinch of Salt in NYC, offers hands-on cooking instruction to adults and children. She believes in teaching children how to eat healthy. This past summer she volunteered at PS 11, in NYC, teaching a group of 3rd graders how to prepare meals using the crops they sold at their very own farmer’s market. Students worked side by side with Chef Raquel making such things as vegetable crostinis and Greek salads and enjoyed eating their creations.
She is now participating in a project to revamp school “food” to real cooked foods, as a part of Wellness in the Schools (WITS), which operates the Cook for Kids program in New York City public school kitchens and classrooms, serving 6,500 children. Under the leadership of Chef Bill Telepan, WITS sends culinary school graduates into public school kitchens to prepare fresh meals from scratch and to educate families about the importance of eating whole, unprocessed food.
As a WITS in Residence, Chef Raquel signed on to train public school cafeteria workers to return to slow cooking. The project involves her staying at a school for a year to insure that the the cafeteria staff will feel comfortable continuing the new menus after she leaves. (more…)