Partnerships

In addition to the numerous resources informing our research, it was important for us to develop partnerships with various organizations to help us form recommendations specific to the needs of Newark. We were able to develop a relationship with our first partner, Bon Appetit Healthy Kids Initiative through our project advisor, Piper Fernwey, who works with Bon Appetit. In addition to traveling to Ohio from San Francisco and leading a cooking class on November 20, 2019 , Manager of Food Education, Hannah Price shared with us her Healthy Kids Initiative’s curriculum, cooking class layout, and recipes to help us develop our own personal cooking recommendations specific to Newark. Furthermore, Piper and Hannah provided the resources necessary for us to host our classes including cooking supplies, ingredients, and chefs. 

Pam Roberts, one of the founders of Newark’s Together We Grow was enthused to partner with us. She brought to our project expertise of the Newark community especially in regards to food insecurity. The organization supports eight community gardens and six school gardens and is heavily involved in the mitigation of hunger in the community and providing healthy, locally grown foods to families in need. The mission of Together We Grow is “to connect the community of Newark through the power of gardening”; we saw that this organization would be an excellent fit for our goals to address food insecurity in the most dignified and sustainable way possible. 

Much of what Pam provided was her knowledge of the community and access to her community gardens. While she was unable to attend our classes, she offered to open her gardens to the students participating in the cooking course in its future iterations, an opportunity that we hope to utilize as we continue to work with this project.

Perhaps our most enthusiastic partner was that of Julie Elwell, the principle of Carson Elementary School. Julie was a wealth of knowledge and was excited to provide a space for us to host our classes. She was able to help us identify optimal timing, schedule the class and invite/identify students that would benefit most from participating in our class. For example, 11 students were identified as participants in both the after school program and the YMCA Backpack Program. Ultimately, these students were our target audience. Julie was a key player in facilitating the cooking class at the elementary school. 

Our partners gave us unique perspectives and experiences that allowed us to make optimal recommendations for the community. Working with these partners allowed us to develop the most effective and informed curriculum based on individual knowledge, expertise, and perspectives that these organizations brought to us.  In the following section we outline the results of the two cooking classes, and the recommendations we can make based-off our experience and research. 

Cooking Class and Recommendations

We hosted two cooking courses with a group of 20 Carson Elementary School students that were between second and fifth grade who were also enrolled in the after school program with Bon Appetit. Our first class was organized by Hannah Price, with the Healthy Kids Initiative, with a cooking demonstration by Chef Allen Gross on November 20th, 2019. Healthy Kids Initiative incorporated their experience that they hold within this field. Hannah offered her expertise in leading cooking activities with youth and the importance of introducing them to local and fresh vegetables, how to try new foods, as well as the fun and community cooking can bring. Our second class, offered on December 4th, 2019, was informed by Hannah’s methods, in which we (Kevin and Julia) taught the education piece of the course, and again, Chef Allen conducted the cooking demonstration. 

Each class was structured to be an hour and a half long, consisting of a nutrition lesson, cooking time and picnic time. The cooking classes were structured to be a hands-on experience for the participants, allowing them to practice cooking their skills and learn about food literacy. Cooking stations were designed to allow the students to be in a group setting. Three tables were set up with tablecloths and six to seven settings constituents of a cutting board and parchment paper in front of a larger table where Chef Allen conducted his demonstrations. 

During our first class, students prepared zucchini noodles and marinara sauce, and seasonal fruit kabobs. Upon entering the classroom, students noted the smell of sauteing garlic, “It smells so good in here!” one student exclaimed. Other students excitedly asked “What are we making today?” Another student said, “Is that zucchini? I hate zucchini!” Later, that same student would be returning for second and third helpings of the zucchini noodles. Once we gathered the students in the classroom, Hannah led them to the back of the classroom where everyone was instructed to take a seat. Hannah introduced the helpers in the room, including “a real live chef” Chef Allen. Students were elated to be in the same room as a “real life chef.” She began her nutrition lesson, introducing students to “Go”, “Slow” and “Woah” food groups. ‘Go’ foods are foods that you can eat every day, like fruits, vegetables, and healthy proteins. ‘Slow’ foods are foods that you can every couple days, like potato chips, and top ramen. ‘Woah’ foods are foods that you can have every once in awhile, like cake. After introducing each food group, Hannah asked students if they could think of any foods that could be included in that group. Students were active and engaged participators. Hannah’s instruction was positive and focused heavily on what foods to eat, rather than what foods not to eat. She talked about how eating ‘go’ foods fuels the body and the brain, and forms healthy development. She additionally expressed that it is okay to eat ‘slow’ and ‘woah’ foods on occasion; using the example of having a piece of birthday cake at a party. She incorporated lots of student participation.

After her nutrition lesson, Hannah introduced students to two new foods that none of the students said they had ever tried before with a taste test; blood orange and fennel bulb. Hannah talked about how sometimes it can be scary to try new foods and that they do not have to try either food if they do not want to. When we distributed pieces of blood orange and fennel to each of the students, many of the kids objected, saying they didn’t want to try it. Hannah said, “if you want to, you could take the teeniest, tiniest bite, and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to have any more of it.” Most students came around at this point, while several others still were hesitant. After hearing other students try blood orange and say “it tastes sweet!” and fennel say “it tastes like black licorice!” The rest of the class came around and tried both the fennel and the blood orange. Everyone liked the blood orange, and all but three students enjoyed the fennel.

Then, Hannah asked the kids to stand up and she led them in a dancing game. On laminated paper, she had pictures of go, ‘slow’ and ‘woah’ foods, she instructed the kids to dance when she held up a picture of a ‘go’ food, do the robot when she held up a picture of a ‘slow’ food, and freeze when she held up a ‘woah’ food. This activity allowed students to get out their energy before transitioning to the cooking demonstration.

 Each individual cooking station was equipped with a kid safe spiralizer, knife and zucchini squash. Students were guided through a spiralizer demonstration, showing them how to use the spiralizer safely, turning their zucchini into noodles. As students spiralized their zucchini, we came around and collected the noodles they produced and brought them to Chef Allen to be sauteed. We also removed the top layer of parchment paper, giving the students a clean space for the next activity. We composted food scraps and the parchment paper, however most students wanted to keep the knob of the zucchini that was not spiralized to eat. Later, Hannah said she had never seen students eat the ends of zucchini before. After students made zoodles, Hannah gave the kids a lesson on “eating the rainbow,” and how different colors of foods make your body strong and healthy. In addition, she introduced the kids to composting and how worms can turn food scraps into dirt. Hannah’s lesson allowed Chef Allen to saute the zoodles and get prepared for the next demonstration. As Hannah was wrapping up her lesson, we began passing fresh herbs. Chef Allen instructed the students on how to remove the leaves from the stem and how he was going to use the herbs in the marinara sauce. At this point, Chef Allen demonstrated additional steps for preparing the marinera that the students did not have a hands on role in, including smashing and chopping garlic, chiffonading basil, and how he crushed whole tomatoes. 

We transitioned into making fruit kabobs by distributing fruit to each student. The fruit kabobs consisted of oranges, strawberries, grapes, and asian pears. Chef Allen had prepared the oranges and pears by cutting them in half. We also distributed a kid safe knife, again, Chef Allen gave a safety demonstration. Students chopped their fruit with focus and socialized with their table mates. One student asked, “May I try a bite?” in which we all replied, “Of course!” Some students expressed never have trying asian pear. Students ate their fruit, and loaded their kabob sticks with fruit in unique orders and patterns.

While the students were preparing their kabobs, Chef Allen finished preparing the marinera and zoodles and transitioned them to a chafer which kept the food warm. We then transitioned to snack time where students were served. After one student had been served a full plate of zoodles with marinara sauce, they exclaimed, “This is a luxury meal!” All but one student returned for second and third helpings of the zoodles and marinara. As the students enjoyed their zoodles with marinara sauce, one student yelled out, “I never eat vegetables at home, but I want to take this recipe home to my mom!” The fruit was enjoyed by all, with most students returning to Chef Allen for more fruit despite their kabob sticks being completely full. While the students were eating, we conducted brief interviews with eight students. When they were asked if they eat vegetables at home, one student replied: “Never! I never eat vegetables at home, no way!” another student replied, “Sometimes, but not like this.” 

Students were asked to clear their plates, and were released back to the after school program to wait for their parents to pick them up. As students were being picked up, they were asked if they would like to bring an additional prepared meal home in the form of frozen meals provided by Denison University’s Food Recovery Network. All students and their parents accepted the meals. After distributing meals, we finished cleaning up the classroom, loading up the van and left the school. 

Our second cooking class was a combination of the strategies we had learned through observing Hannah and our research. Thus, we followed a similar structure to Hannah’s course with several changes that we had learned during our research and wanted to try. 

As Kevin and Julia met the students participating in the second cooking class, many children gave us hugs, “are we going to be cooking again today?” Only one student was absent from the second class that had attended the first class, and three additional students joined us bringing our total participants to 20. Students walked into the classroom and many again noted the smell, “mmm, it smells so good in here!” “yummy!” we heard from excited children. Again, we led the children to the rug in the back of the classroom and started with a nutrition lesson. 

Julia led students in a nutrition lesson about building a balanced plate, reviewing go, ‘slow’ and ‘woah’ foods, and how we can use them to build a plate that will fuel strong bodies. Using the same terminology, Julia showed students that you can also have ‘go’, ‘slow’ and ‘woah’ plates. ‘Go’ plates are really balanced, with half their plate being fruits and vegetables, a quarter being starches/grains, and another quarter being healthy protein. ‘Slow’ plates are somewhat balanced, but might have too much starches/grains or protein. ‘Woah’ might consist of ‘woah’ foods, like a plateful of birthday cake. The point was to show the kids a goal, and how they might turn a ‘slow’ plate into a plate. Julia used the Healthy Kids Eating Plate example by Harvard School of Public Health Throughout her lesson, Julia asked students for examples of fruits, vegetables, proteins, grains and starches that could be included in a balanced plate. Every student eagerly raised their hand with an answer. 

After Julia’s nutrition lesson, Kevin led the group in a dance activity. He had made several examples of  ‘go’, ‘slow’ and ‘woah’ plates out of paper plates, and printouts of different types of foods. The students danced when we held up a ‘go’ plate, did the robot when he held up a ‘slow’ plate, and pretended to have a belly ache when he had a ‘woah’ plate. If the plate was a ‘slow’ or ‘woah’ plate, Julia asked students what they thought they could add to this to make it a ‘go’ plate. This led us to our next activity in which students were instructed to make their own ‘go’ plate with a paper plates that Kevin had made that had been marked with the proper fruit and vegetables, starch/grain, and healthy protein proportions, and different printouts of foods. Students taped the foods they chose, onto their paper plates. We then transitioned the students to the tables to conduct our taste test and start the cooking demonstration.

 Chef Allen brought pomegranate and red ribbon sorrel for the kids to try. Several students had seen or tried pomegranate before, while many had not. Everyone tried a couple pomegranate seeds. Next they tried red ribbon sorrel, students in the class had never seen or heard of it. Most students were willing to try it after being reminded that you can start with a tiny bite and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to keep eating it. Surprisingly, about five students asked for more red ribbon sorrel leaves after their first taste.  

We chose to make spaghetti squash and pesto, and smoothies for our second class because we really wanted to emphasize the idea that you can make delicious dishes like pasta out of vegetables -- and make it just as tasty! Each cooking station had a fork, and a quarter of a spaghetti squash. Chef Allen showed the students how to use a fork to separate the squash noodles from the skin. We then collected all the noodles, and composted the skins. Chef Allen then showed the kids how he was making the pesto using fresh, local basil, garlic, sunflower seeds, parmesan and oil in a blender, and how he sauteed the spaghetti squash in a pan with oil. 

Next we distributed kiwis for their smoothies to each of the students. The kiwis had been prepared with each end cut off. Chef Allen then showed the students how you can insert a spoon into the kiwi and slide it around the edge to remove the skin all in one piece. Most students were able to do this easily, however some students with smaller hands struggled with this activity. Some students asked if they could try the kiwi, which we encouraged. The remaining kiwi we collected in a blender with coconut milk. Then we distributed bananas to each student. Chef Allen showed the students how you can peel a banana like a monkey by pinching the bottom. Students each ate half a banana, while the other half was collected for the smoothie. Chef Allen then added pineapple, and pomegranate seeds and blended a smoothies. In addition to his first recipe, he also made a smoothie with kale in it for students to try. We then distributed the smoothies to the children, while Chef Allen set up the chafer with spaghetti squash, pesto and marinara that he had premade. While some students were unsure about kale in their smoothies, those that tried it said they enjoyed it and that “it didn’t taste much different than the other smoothie.” 

The students were called by table to come up and get a serving of spaghetti squash and pesto, all the students tried the spaghetti squash, and most came back for second and third helpings. Some students expressed that they liked the zoodles from the past cooking class better, while the others said they liked the spaghetti squash better. As we served students we asked if they could think of something that could make this meal even more balanced, the consensus was that we could add a healthy protein. 

While the students were eating, Chef Allen showed them the basil plant seedlings that he had brought from Racoon Creek Farms. Gardening exposure can increase a student's willingness to try new foods and incorporate fresh foods into their diets. While a basil seedling isn’t exactly gardening, we wanted to give students the opportunity to grow their own plants. As students finished their smoothies and spaghetti squash, and cleared their plates, they excitedly gathered their balanced plates, basil plant, and a copy of the Healthy Kids Eating Plate and two recipes for making pesto and marinara that Chef Allen had prepared. In addition, many students took home fruit that had been left over from the class. They could hardly carry it all!

Due to complications with break, we were unable to gather enough recovered food to distribute food after class. We asked two students that had taken recovered food home in the last class if they enjoyed the food, and both said they really did enjoy it. 

Interviews 

In order to receive more information from our participants, we took a qualitative approach, conducting miniature interviews with them during the picnic time. When interviewing the students, we focused on questions that pertained to their eating habits, food availability at home, and how much fun they had in the cooking classes. The questions were as follows: “Did you have fun in the cooking class?”, “Did you enjoy the food we prepared?”, “What was your favorite part?”, and “Do you eat typically eat vegetables at home?”

When asking the participants “Did you have fun in the cooking class?” and “What was your favorite part?”, many of them exclaimed 

During picnic time of the first cooking class, when the students were eating the food they had prepared, we sat down and interviewed some of them. First we asked, “Did you have fun in the cooking class today?”, and many of them exclaimed, “Yes! I had a lot of fun!” 

After asking them if they enjoyed the class, we then asked “what do you normally eat at home?” With this question, we got many different responses on the six students we talked to. One students was quick to proudly respond, “I eat healthy at home! I love carrots and tomatoes and steamed broccoli!” while another student stated, “I hardly ever eat vegetables at home, but I am excited to take this home and eat it with my mom!” referencing to the zucchini noodles. We learned from many students that they seldom, or don’t eat vegetables at home. We left the class hoping that the students participation in our classes would at least give them a greater willingness to try vegetables when they are available to them, even just starting to eat the broccoli in their school lunch.