In July and August, we conducted another Whole Food, Whole You Community Culinary Series. This time around, the class was tailored to teens and their caregivers. We collaborated with the Duluth School Community Collaborative, which recruited teens from Denfield High School and Lincoln Park Middle School.
On the menu were collard greens and black-eyed peas over couscous. Session Two featured guacamole with blue corn chips and smoothie elixirs, and the menu for Session Three was mixed veggie medley and sweet potato fries. During the classes, we discussed the benefits each dish had on gut health, the importance of eating a variety of colorful foods, as well as the importance of eating whole foods for brain and immune health.
The teens learned knife skills, how to work with a variety of herbs, spices, and culinary equipment, like air fryers and Instant Pots. They also developed an understanding of how to read and add their own spin on a recipe. Alongside their teens, parents and primary caregivers learned how to use food as medicine and witnessed how inspired and encouraged the teens were to complete their dishes and own this hands-on culinary experience.
One parent of three participants summed it up best, “this course has helped me learn how to know healthy choices for gut health. It has expanded my children’s knowledge in regards to how to know what are healthy options for food, expanded their imagination of eating vegetables, and actually wanting to eat healthy. It also provided a safe, welcoming environment for me to engage with my children on a positive level.”
Special thanks to Saraiya Piantek and Josie Fobbe from the Duluth Community School Collaborative for recruiting and chaperoning teens during the three-week culinary session. For more information on the next Whole Food, Whole You Community Culinary series coming this Fall, or any other community wellness programming, contact Toussaint at toussaint@ecolibrium3.org or 219-302-1921.