Teaching Kitchen programming is becoming an extremely important part of maintaining successful healthcare results for patients with chronic diseases. As a proud member of Harvard TH Chan & Culinary Institute of America’s Teaching Kitchen Collaborative, we distinguish ourselves through 20+ years of experience in this space and measurable behavior change outcomes.
Our unique offerings include:
FamilyCook was delighted to launch a collaboration with Teaching Kitchen Collaborative members Tracey Burg and her Boston Medical Center Teaching Kitchen team last fall. Through Tracey, BMC licensed FamilyCook’s Teen Battle Chef curriculum and taught the program to local high school youth who participate in Boston Public Health Commission’s health career learning internships. These students began their multi-cultural cooking ‘battles’ ( tv-like cooking demonstrations) as teams in the BMC kitchen. In this way they spiced up their culinary skills and palates while they experienced what running a teaching kitchen as a career in nutrition and cooking might look like!
“The Teen Battle Chef curriculum design really challenged the students on multiple levels and kept us, as instructors, on our toes as well. The kids developed impressive command of preparing and seasoning a wide range of dishes, and confidence to create their own recipe concepts. Their “Final Battle” presentation which they designed surprised us at how much the program has positively impacted their own food choices! We are excited for spring to use our roof garden produce’ in our TBC recipes!”
Tracey Burg, BMC Teaching Kitchen Director
For more info contact Tracey.Burg@bmc.org
When FamilyCook presented our research at TKC first Research Day in February 2018, we were excited to share our Teaching Kitchen program outcomes including ‘sustained effect’ research as well as our 10 Experiential Drivers of Behavior Change. After the conference, in a follow up call with TKC member Barilla’s Anna Rosales, it was agreed that Barilla would share their latest in-house teaching kitchen curricula for analysis by FamilyCook using our ‘drivers of behavior change’ best practice lens. FamilyCook’s report recommended areas to enhance the curriculum’s efficacy based on Barilla’s stated goals. The entire process took about 3 weeks and FCP provided very thorough and detailed recommendations. These suggestions were subsequently discussed with FamilyCook and the Barilla teaching kitchen team to maximize utilization of FCP’s most relevant recommendations.
According to Barilla’s Anna Rosales:
“Having this analysis of our curriculum provided valuable and informative feedback – it broadened our perspective about what it takes to motivate participants to make changes about cooking more often. Some of FamilyCook’s recommendations are very aligned with our current focus for this year, so I can see a path to enhancing both our Teaching Kitchen program and overall company goals through these recommendations. We really appreciated your insights and depth of experience to help us shape a more effective program”
Whether you have already established a Teaching Kitchen or are still in the design phase, FamilyCook Productions can help:
Experienced practitioners and those new to Teaching Kitchen methodologies, FamilyCook is here to support you with our Teaching Kitchen Support Services. Below is a step by step summary of what we provide.
1. First, we assess your Teaching Kitchen project aims, curriculum and current outcomes (or projected outcomes if you’re still in the design phase).
2. We then identify gaps in project concept and curriculum that can be advanced with our Ten Communication and Delivery Methods. We’ll pinpoint any novel program elements that can be strengthened by these same 10 drivers.
3. We also develop a cost-benefit analysis to determine the most efficient direction for program enhancement: 1) Infuse the missing drivers into current client programming; or 2) license of a FamilyCook program, if it’s more cost-effective.
4. While designing activities in your programming, we embed design evaluation measures; this maximizes the likelihood of capturing metrics among willing participants.
5. Our professional development infuses the behavior change theory/mechanism essential to each of our Ten Communication and Delivery Methods.
6. We provide ongoing troubleshooting and support/consultation to address the typical challenges that arise when implementing new strategies and curriculum.
For over two decades, FamilyCook has spread evidence-based Teaching Kitchen programs across the US with positive outcomes – including sustained effect over time. We continue to explore behavior change in collaboration with Columbia University’s Teacher’s College, Nutrition Department.
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Our Ten Communication and Delivery Methods That Drive Behavior fit into the Process of Nutrition Education developed by Dr. Isobel Contento.
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Teaching Kitchen projects across the US can now gain access to evidence-based tools resulting from our research. Interested? Read more about our Teaching Kitchen Support Services below….
We invite you to join our Facebook and LinkedIn networking groups. These spaces are for sharing best practices among practitioners and researchers. Measurable behavior change is a focus of these networks.
In contrast with general cooking classes, Teaching Kitchens have the specific aim to educate the public on nutrition for lifelong health and wellness. They combat lifestyle-related conditions like obesity and diabetes. In order to be successful, they must produce measurable health outcomes. These outcomes come from hands-on food education, kitchen skill building and above all, behavior change. All this said, Teaching Kitchens are still an emerging concept. As such, the FamilyCook team blogs regularly to explore best practices, terminology, and more.
Check out our Teaching Kitchen Blog to learn more.
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