United Way Zeroes in on Childhood Obesity
“Cooking up Change” Partner Program Demonstrates how Local Students are Redefining School Lunches
Last week, United Way partner, Kid Healthy, came out to our monthly Emerging Leaders United Council Meeting sponsored by Ernst and Young, to share more about “Cooking up Change,” a program that engages local culinary students to cook healthy food options for their peers and schools, transforming cafeterias across the country. The award-winning Cooking up Change team from Westminster High School served up tasty tacos that naturally follow strict caloric and low-fat guidelines—another great example of how, by increasing access to nutritious food options, we will increase the number of healthy youth in Orange County by 2024.
Tasty tacos by Cooking Up Change team from Westminster H.S.
With a mission focused on rewriting the recipe for school food, Kid Healthy’s Cooking up Change program provides support for school cooking reform so that students have healthy food choices to fuel their learning experience. Offering high school students from low-resource schools the opportunity to transform the school lunch menu helps students develop valuable culinary arts skills for potential career opportunities and to increase their self-esteem, encouraging self-sufficiency and wellness.
Through our partnerships with programs like Cooking up Change and childhood obesity prevention initiatives targeting healthy eating and physical activity, more OC families are seeing positive changes in their children’s lives. Learn more about the work we’re doing and GET CONNECTED with local volunteer opportunities focused on health needs today. By working to fight hunger and lower the childhood obesity rate, we are raising a healthier generation of kids.
