Our project was to develop recommendations for building a cooking class curriculum to mitigate food insecurity in Newark, OH. Through working with Bon Appetit, extensively researching mitigation strategies and co-hosting two cooking classes with students at Carson Elementary, we are able to make primary recommendations to inform future curriculum building. 

When we set out to do this project our main goal was to make recommendations for building a curriculum that would help mitigate food insecurity in Newark, OH in a dignified and fun manner. Our list of recommendations and curriculum were informed by our extensive research into literature of food insecurity mitigation strategies and from our cooking classes. From this we learned the following: the optimal class size is less than 20 participants, it is ideal to have hands on activities and experiences for both children and parents, and where possible, eliminate barriers to food insecurity. 

Should this project be continued, we recommend specific attention to the unique characteristics of the community being addressed, there is no one size fits all cure to food insecurity. In addition we suggest exploring greater parental participation, including a class where parents join their children for the entire experience, grocery store tutorials, gardening classes and other resources specifically aimed at supporting parents (dietitians, representatives of WIC/SNAP, etc). Furthermore, we hope that the class will be held on a consistent weekly or biweekly interval with each class building upon the last, and teaching the participants new skills and resources to best achieve food security and a healthy lifestyle. 

Developing a cooking class with a curriculum specific to the needs of the community being addressed is an effective way to mitigate food insecurity. While programs exist to fight hunger, it is not enough to only provide food for a full belly. In this project we analysed literature and piloted cooking classes to develop recommendations for developing a curriculum to address nutrition inequity and long-term food insecurity among elementary school students and their families in Newark, OH.