Last week I ranted about the mere fact that teaching kitchens are a thing of the past. That our focus today is more on food entertainment rather than entertaining friends and family with food.
Bronx Kitchen Kids end of day talks
I want to paint a clearer picture of what I am discussing. Teaching kitchen can happen anywhere! In your home, at a community center, in an afterschool program, in schools, in libraries, anywhere. Our very first Kitchen Kids program for TATT was taught at a public school in the Bronx, NYC in a science room. We used a toaster oven and two hot plates and hosted some truly awesome experiences for those freshmen and sophomores at that school. We rolled out pasta dough on desks, we used sharp knives with care, we ate, we laughed and we learned….together. I went to the weekend markets for fresh food and on Wednesdays took the hour long trip and made this a reality. We ended every class around the table discussing the prior week with one question repeating every week. “How many of the 7 dinners/suppers this past week did you eat as a family. It began with only 12% but by the time we left was up to 28%. We made dinner a conscious thought with little pressure. We taught life skills in conjunction with their education and it actually gave the teachers a much needed break for 1 hour of 1 day every week.
Bronx Kitchen Kids
The idea that we need elaborately designed kitchens with gadgets and gizmos galore seems silly. You simply need someone interested and caring enough to say this is important. We cannot continue to sustain our lives in a healthy manner from a box that includes instructions on the side.
If you are interested in more, here are some resources that can help:
and many more on the Blog for Family Dinner online resource
