Why Cooking Really Matters

The student body of Amundsen High School is widely diverse, including teens who come from not just the surrounding neighborhood, but across the city. Students are predominantly from low-income families, and over 90% are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in the school cafeteria. Although Erie's School-Based Health Centers provides 1:1 Nutrition Counseling to students, the Cooking Matters program places the same theories learned in Nutrition Counseling sessions into practice. In partnership with EverThrive Illinois, Cooking Matters is a free six-week course that provides teens with hands-on experience on how to prepare healthy and inexpensive meals at home. The program has been implemented at several Erie Family Health Center sites and I wanted Amundsen students to benefit from the program as well.

After several Nutrition Counseling sessions with students, it became apparent that not every child has the privilege of having a home-cooked meal at the end of the day, and it was not unusual to find that kids often skip meals. By demonstrating to students how simple and affordable it can be to cook a variety of different breakfast meals, snacks, and entrées, they are able to learn the basics of preparing a meal, such as chopping vegetables, as well as a valuable skillset they can bring home and share with their families. Some may even discover a newfound passion for cooking.

While students are encouraged to try a variety of different fruits and vegetables during class, they also learn how to shop for groceries and how to effectively read nutrition labels. Teaching students how to navigate a grocery store through an activity in the health center allowed them to compare options that are accessible in local stores without having to rely on fast food chains. In addition, organizing one of our sessions in the health center allowed students to visit the clinic and become more aware of the resources available to them.

Whether students are in the kitchen for the first time or building on skills they may already have, Cooking Matters not only provides students with the opportunity to learn how to prepare a meal, but also instills a more profound message. Similar to Teen Pregnancy Prevention Classes, Cooking Matters teaches students they are able to make healthful choices and teaches them how to be an advocate for their own health. At a time when they are beginning to make their own decisions, I found this message to be most important. Being healthy is not only about attending to regular check-ups, but also about learning how to take care of oneself outside of the health clinic and how to best approach these decisions as young adults. Cooking Matters at Amundsen has become an additional health center resource that I hope will continue on within the coming school year.

This blog post was written by NHC Chicago 2016-17 member Robin Kanemoto.

Robin is a Health Educator at Erie Family Health Center - Amundsen.