Virtual Cooking Classes in Action

With the constraints of the pandemic, our food education is now delivered through virtual sessions paired with access to food families need to fully participate. Virtual cooking sessions have shown that students cooking and eating at home has its own unique benefits such as greater family engagement and an increase in students cooking for their families. The produce for virtual cooking sessions is provided through at-home or school deliveries in collaboration with the FRESHFARM Pop Up Food Hub. Learn more about the ways FoodPrints and Pop Up Food Hub have teamed up during the pandemic!

Our virtual cooking sessions range in content and experience. They are designed in a meaningful way by the FoodPrints teacher at the school to best fit the desires of the school community. For example there are:

• Classes that engage students in simple exposure to fresh produce, empowering them to try and eat these foods in their own homes.
• Lessons that teach independent cooking skills and simple recipes with content that supports student learning in academic areas of science, math, and reading/writing.
• Family cooking sessions that incorporate seasonal produce and simple pantry items to prepare low-cost nutritious meals such as Plant Part Pasta and produce-based soups and dinner bowls.

The stories below will tell you more about what FoodPrints virtual cooking classes look like in action!

Staying Engaged With School by Cooking Together:
In a hugely successful family cooking session at Burroughs Elementary, families came ready to make Homemade Applesauce, some with their apples already peeled, chopped, boiled and cooled while others followed along step-by-step. Students loved seeing their teachers cook along with them and had fun comparing the different ingredients and supplies everyone was using. The FoodPrints Teacher encouraged students and staff to hold their ingredients up to the camera, saying “Show me your apples! Who’s using green apples? Red apples?” One student even made music for everyone using her cinnamon sticks.

Weaving Food Knowledge Into Virtual Family Fun Nights:
For FoodPrints Family Fun Nights at Beers Elementary, families cook nutritious recipes together using produce delivered to their homes prior to the session, while learning about nutrition concepts. In one, families talked about “eating the rainbow” and made Colorful Kale Salad by chopping apples, tearing kale, mixing dressing, and massaging the kale. In another, families cooked Sweet Potato and Chickpea Curry and talked about the differences between nutrient dense and energy dense foods. Families are always excited for the next session!

Becoming Confident in the Kitchen to Cook for the Family:
A few of our students became so confident after our virtual cooking classes that they prepared dinners for their families with recipes such as lemon roasted salmon, green salad with homemade dressing, and mini pizzas with veggies.. A Kimball Elementary student, Jakob Green, says of FoodPrints: “It makes me feel like I’m a chef in the kitchen.” His father noticed that “now Jakob eats a lot of different healthy options and I think that’s a tribute to FoodPrints.”