Common Threads, Cooking Skills & World Cuisine

Common Threads is just beginning to set out on a new spring semester of Cooking Skills and World Cuisine classes, and we are larger and more effective than ever thanks to the help of so many wonderful sponsors and donors.

This semester we will be offering 53 Cooking Skills and World Cuisine classes: 27 in Chicago, 20 in Miami, 4 in Washington, DC, 1 in Palo Alto, and 1 in Los Angeles.  This is in addition to numerous Family Cooking Classes, Garden classes, and our newest initiative, in school nutritional programming called Small Bites.  In all, we will be putting on over 125 programs and training more than 100 teachers.

Furthermore, our classes continue to prove their effectiveness in getting kids to make healthier food choices. 

• Students, from the beginning to the end of our programs, showed an average increase of 36% for healthy foods (wheat bread, brown rice, fruits, vegetables, fruit juice) and a 35% decrease for unhealthy foods (white bread, cookies, candy, chips, soda).
• Students also continue to show marked improvement in:
  • Recognizing a healthy meal (17%)
  • Cooking at home (28.5%)
  • Enjoying school (10.4%)
  • Enjoying eating new foods (21.2%)
  • Following and making a healthy recipe (31.9%)
  • Enjoying eating fruits and vegetables (19.2%)
• And 100% of students agree that Common Threads helps them to learn new things, work, and be responsible, with 90-95% indicating that they strongly agree with such statements.

Common Threads is forging ahead with our programs and seeking new and efficient ways to expand nutritional education for students across the nation.  We seek to be a thought-leader when it comes to new curriculum we are very pleased to be working with such school systems as those in Chicago and Miami which are actively seeking out organizations that can help expand their nutrition, gardening, and general wellness programs.

Exciting things are happening for Common Threads as we head into our 10^th year, and we are very thankful for everyone that has been and will continue to be a part of our sustained success in combating obesity and promoting healthy lifestyles.

That is all for this quarter.  Thank you so much for your donations, and be sure to check back soon to see how your generosity is helping Common Threads to expand and reach more children’s lives than ever before!

Links:

• Common Threads is ready to celebrate 10 years!
• Our Executive Director speaks out about healthy lifestyles
• Chef Michelle Bernstein on how she supports Common Threads