Stony Brook Medicine Cooking Classes Teach Kids About Healthy Eating

Developing healthy eating and cooking habits at a young age is the goal of the Stony Brook Heights Rooftop Farm Nutrition and Cooking Workshops for Kids, a farm-to-table nutrition education program based out of Stony Brook University Hospital’s organic rooftop farm.

A dozen kids from ages 7-10 took part in Stony Brook Medicine’s annual, three-day workshop series. The workshops teach kids how to prepare their own meals and pick fresh farm-grown produce from the 2,242-square-foot rooftop garden, which supplies approximately 1,500 pounds of produce per year for patient meal trays and local charities.

“Getting into a habit of healthy eating, it is important to start young,” said Sotiria Everett, registered dietitian and clinical assistant professor in the Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine’s Nutrition Division at Stony Brook Medicine, who founded the series in 2018. “In-depth exposure and the interaction of creating their own meals also encourages them to eat healthier.”

Studies have shown that having confidence in the kitchen leads to fewer fast food meals and more meals as a family to strengthen a healthy lifestyle, and a study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior also highlights that young adults with strong cooking skills will improve healthy eating habits.

The participating children learned about how food and ingredients are grown, and how to harvest and choose ingredients to prepare healthier food options. They tried a variety of fruit and vegetables and were taught the health benefits behind them, and they learned the proper use of kitchen equipment to prepare meals using the ingredients they picked by hand. They also gained a hands-on approach to sustainable methods in farming, such as composting, choosing local foods and water conservation.

Kids picked cucumbers, carrots, beets, herbs, basil, eggplant and zucchini from the rooftop garden, and also learned how to make hummus and veggie wraps, tabbouleh and fruit smoothies, taking home easy recipes they can duplicate for their families.