When developed at an early age, food and cooking literacy can have a positive effect on a child’s future. From learning basic math and science skills to forming smart, nutritional habits, cooking literacy provides the building blocks to lifelong wellness, fighting off future heart disease, obesity, diabetes and more. Parents want their children to learn how to cook, but often lack the time and tools. A recent survey from Pampered Chef* found that nearly three-fourths of parents wish their kids learned cooking skills in school, yet more than half of their kids’ schools don’t offer cooking literacy classes.

To encourage food and cooking literacy, Pampered Chef, provider of inspirational cooking solutions, is teaming up with Big Green, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to building a healthier future for kids to launch a Classroom Kitchen campaign. Together, the organizations aim to “get kids cooking” by supporting teacher-led cooking skill classes and providing cooking kits across the U.S., with the goal of reaching more than 150,000 students.

“We are not setting our kids up for a healthy future when we don’t teach them basic cooking skills,” said Tracy Britt Cool, Pampered Chef CEO. “As a society we’ve become distracted from this important truth; we’ve sent a generation of children off into the world without these skills. It’s time to break the cycle, starting in the classroom. Developing a clear understanding of fresh food and basic cooking skills is imperative for our children’s future and long, healthy adult lives.”

For every Pampered Chef fundraiser party held to benefit a school-affiliated program in September or October, Pampered Chef will donate one kit of classroom-friendly cooking tools and lesson plans to the host’s school and another box of cooking tools to a Big Green school in need. Big Green builds Learning Gardens in underserved schools and offers programs designed to increase students’ knowledge and likeability of fresh fruits and vegetables. Their goal is to teach kids to make healthier food choices today and for the rest of their lives. But around 500 schools in the program are waiting for kitchen tool supplies so they can bring produce from their gardens into the classroom. And that is where the Classroom Kitchen campaign comes in. With the right tools, the partnership provides educators a catalyst to help students take what they’ve learned in the Learning Garden and apply it in the kitchen, inspiring kids across America to prepare healthier foods and educating them in how to use basic kitchen tools.

“American children are being fed processed, nutrient-poor food that leaves them starving and obese at the same time. This needs to stop, and cooking real food is one of the answers,” said Kimbal Musk, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Big Green. “Thanks to Pampered Chef, students can take the knowledge they’ve learned in their school’s Learning Garden to cook a delicious real food meal."

The Pampered Chef Classroom Kitchen cooking kits offered to hosts’ schools range in value from $150-$450, depending on the size of the fundraiser and include three cooking-based lesson plans and the Pampered Chef tools needed to bring the lessons to life. Each lesson is designed to introduce key cooking skills such as measuring, mixing, kneading and cutting, and the lessons also come with suggested alignments and extensions to integrate STEM and ELA Common Core standards for grades K-12.

To receive a Classroom Kitchen cooking kit for your community, simply book a Pampered Chef fundraising party for any school-affiliated program during September or October with your local consultant at PamperedChef.com/host-a-party. Qualifying school-affiliated programs private and public schools, the parent support organization such as a PTA or PTO, recognized home schooling associations, extracurricular school programs such as the band or JV team, and even scouting troops. As with every Pampered Chef fundraiser party, the company will also make a financial donation to the school-affiliated cause.

For more information about the program, visit PamperedChef.com/ClassroomKitchen, or to learn more about Pampered Chef’s charitable giving initiatives, visit PamperedChef.com and click on Charitable Giving.

*According to a statistically significant +/-3 percent online survey of 1,000 American adults fielded by Pampered Chef on July 11-13, 2018.

About Pampered Chef

Pampered Chef, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is a leading provider of personalized, inspirational cooking solutions delivered by a community of more than 40,000 cooking consultants. For almost 40 years, Pampered Chef has helped create countless mealtime moments with friends and family through high-quality, everyday cooking tools and inspiration, while providing each cooking consultant a flexible opportunity to build a business around his or her own lifestyle, goals and passions. For more information visit PamperedChef.com. Like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/PamperedChef.

About Big Green

Big Green (formerly The Kitchen Community) was started in 2011 by The Kitchen co-founders Hugo Matheson and Kimbal Musk with the fundamental belief that every child should have the opportunity to play, learn, and grow in healthy communities. Big Green builds a healthier future for kids by connecting them to delicious real food through a nationwide network of Learning Gardens and food literacy programs. Big Green seeks to reduce preventable diet-related health disparities and teach lifelong healthy habits by building a national school food culture that promotes youth wellness. Today there are Learning Gardens in hundreds of schools around the United States reaching 250,000 students every day. For more information, please visit BigGreen.org or follow on Twitter and Instagram @BigGreen.