Black Girls Cook's programming yields a wide range of positive outcomes for participants, extending beyond culinary, edible gardening and entrepreneurial skills. Here are some common outcomes associated with these classes:
- Participants gain hands-on experience in the kitchen, enhancing their culinary skills, including food preparation, knife skills, and cooking techniques.
- Participants develop a deeper connection to their cultural heritage through the exploration and preservation of traditional recipes and gardening practices.
- The culianry and gardening classes empower individuals by providing them with skills and knowledge that contribute to a sense of personal accomplishment and self-efficacy.
- Some participants may explore entrepreneurial opportunities, such as launching a sustainable skincare brand, starting small food-related businesses or engaging in food related community service initiatives.
- Participants improve their mathematical skills through precise measurements, conversions, and calculations involved in recipe preparation and portion control.
- Participants experience interdisciplinary learning by connecting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics principles with real-world applications in gardening and cooking.
About half of African-American women in the U.S. are obese, compared to 30 percent of white women. Black women not only carry more weight, but they start piling on extra pounds years before their white counterparts. Research suggests the problem starts early and has a lot to do with the convenience foods girls consume during childhood.
Hands-on cooking classes not taught in schools and businesses that teach cooking classes for kids are expensive. Therefore, girls living in households with limited incomes and who don't have access to healthy food options tend to eat convenience foods which over time negatively impacts their health. Food equity and access to cooking classes is a serious issue in inner-city communities and Black Girls Cook aims to alleviate the problem one girl at a time.
Black Girls Cook is available to adolescent girls throughout the cities of Baltimore and Miami between the ages of 8 and 15 with high priority being given to candidates living in food deserts and historically under-invested communities. We target this demographic because puberty is a critical time for a girl to develop into a young lady. Black Girls Cook teaches the ultimate survival that will prepare each girl to live a healthier life which will prepare them for adulthood and that is cooking.
Black Girls Cook has a mission to empower and inspire inner-city adolescent black girls through culinary arts and urban farming with an emphasis on Black Diaspora cultural histories and food practices.
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