Free Healthy Cooking Classes For Kids

veggies photo via shutterstock

Children ages 8 through 12 who are members of the Blue Hill Boys & Girls Club will get the opportunity to learn to cook with organic produce through a $100,000 grant from the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation. The eight-week series was developed by ChopChop Kids, publisher of the nonprofit quarterly food magazine.

Boston Organics is providing the fresh ingredients that the Dorchester students will use as they learn to prepare hearty meals like gazpacho, quesadillas and guacamole, bean burgers, and hummus. “Our company was established on the idea that healthy cooking and eating should be as simple as possible,” says Jeff Barry, the founder and president of Boston Organics. “Some people think it’s too difficult or expensive to eat fresh food, but these classes are a great opportunity to teach kids a valuable skill and show them why it’s worth doing.”

Among the instructors leading the classes is former White House pastry chef Bill Yosses, who’s also the new director of the ChopChop Cooking Lab.

This series is part of a new pilot program that aims to reduce obesity by providing tools and teaching the skills necessary to get kids eating and cooking healthy.

Blue Hill Club, 15 Talbot Ave., Dorchester, 617-474-1050, bgcb.org