Raymond Lapena- OC Magazine Article

The little girl pointed to the orange vegetable and asked what it was. She had never seen a carrot before. But after trying her first, she ran about in excitement over her newfound love for carrots.
“I don’t think there’s any better feeling than seeing a child discover food,” said Alexandra Talbot, founder and president of C.H.E.F.s for Schools, a student-run non-profit organization that offers free and direct access to nutrition education, meal preparation, and wellness services.

Talbot founded C.H.E.F.s for Schools in 2007 out of concern for the growing obesity epidemic among low-income communities in New York City. Since then, volunteers for the organization have been going into low-income areas like Harlem, Brooklyn, and the Bronx to teach young children about healthful foods that they may have never eaten before, like carrots.

“Our primary purpose is to benefit our local community,” Talbot said. “We just want people to know about the resources that are available to them.”

C.H.E.F.s. for Schools has partnered with other organizations like Food Bank for NYC to help carry out programs like CookShop, an educational, hands-on experience for pre-kindergarten through second-grade students at public schools where more than 50 percent of students are on free lunch. C.H.E.F.s for Schools now makes up 85 percent of CookShop volunteers in New York City.

CookShop starts with the teacher reading from a picture book that explains what the food is, how it is grown, and how it can be used. Then, each student gets to help create a meal with that ingredient. Students can feel, smell, taste and familiarize themselves with foods that they may have previously avoided.

Courtney Shen, vice president of C.H.E.F.s for Schools, recently helped out with a lesson on lettuce. “I told them what it was, how it was grown, and what you could do with it. And when I asked if anybody ate lettuce at home, they all said no. I found it interesting that they were all willing to eat healthy food. They just don’t have the resources.”

C.H.E.F.s for Schools is trying to be that resource.

“We are hoping that these children not only grasp what we are teaching them, but that they go home to their parents and brothers and sisters and share what they have learned.  Then, hopefully one day they’ll ask their parents if they can have a salad with dinner or carrots for a snack,” Shen said.

C.H.E.Fs for Schools also goes into local markets, performing a diagnosis of their inventories so they can inform people where to purchase healthful foods. On top of CookShop, the organization implements its own Meal Prep workshops for older elementary students and middle school students.

Despite the economic crisis increasing competition among non-profits for funds, C.H.E.F.s for Schools is working with universities and other non-profit organizations to increase outreach. With chapters established at schools like New York University and Columbia University, the organization is eligible for university funding. Affiliation with colleges also provides a large pool of volunteers.

New chapters are also emerging at State University of New York campuses, Pace College and Cornell University. Talbot hopes to expand the organization to her home state, California. She is currently working with University of California Los Angeles and University of California Berkeley to establish new chapters.
“It’s really a struggle for everyone in every circumstance,” Talbot said of the obesity epidemic.
Keeping an eye on the carrot, C.H.E.F.s for Schools hopes to promote healthier lifestyles, coast to coast.

www.chefsforschools.org
chefsforschools@gmail.com

Thank you Jennifer, Raymond, and Courtney!