“Cooking With Chefs” Becoming South County Tradition
It is hard to believe “Cooking With Chefs” is beginning a fourth year of providing heathy food options to youngsters in South San Diego County.
What began with a few Chefs de Cuisine Education Foundation members working with 20 students in the South County Boys & Girls Club’s after school programs has grown into a multifaceted operation that serves students in three cities and delivers recipes, ingredients, lessons, and instructional videos to students and their families reaching 600 people every other week that school is in session.
That was no small feat to accomplish in the middle of a pandemic that shut down schools, businesses, travel, and any sense of normalcy across the United States and around the globe.
It would have been easier to halt the program and wait out the devastating impact of the COVID-19 virus. But the purpose of the program is to bring healthy eating habits to families that live in food deserts that have the highest rates of childhood obesity and childhood diabetes in the county with some of the highest numbers in the state.
The ravages of the pandemic only increased the likelihood that families in National City, Chula Vista, and Imperial Beach would be faced with fewer healthy food choices, and children would be even more susceptible to chronic food-related diseases.
The Chefs de Cuisine Education Foundation formed community partnerships with the Sweetwater Union High School District, SunCoast Market Co-Op, I Love to Glean South County Food Hub, The Chula Vista Police Activities League, Coronado Kitchen and Bath, Kyoto Japanese Market, Olivewood Gardens, Wild Willow Farm, and others to form an alliance that not only survived the pandemic but thrived and expanded.
During COVID-related school closures, dedicated teachers staffed school parking lots while parents drove through to pick up recipe ingredient kits.
Twice monthly, recipe ingredients are purchased, packaged, and delivered to schools for students to take home and cook with their parents while watching instructional videos created by the Foundation.
Bolstered by the generous support of the Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation and private donations, “Cooking With Chefs” enters year four with an eye to expanding to other school districts bringing the message that healthy eating can taste good and be less expensive than fast food and processed food items, and be good for you at the same time.