With Food in Mind’s core program, Artists in the Kitchen, reflects many of the organization’s values and inspirations.
Artists in the Kitchen is motivated first and foremost by rising rates of childhood obesity. In the United States, nearly one in three children are overweight or obese. The numbers are even higher in low-income areas and in communities of color. Nearly 40% of the children in African American and Hispanic communities are overweight or obese, placing them at greater risk for heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Artists in the Kitchen was created with the belief that increased food education is necessary to combat these statistics.
Also affecting young people’s well-being is the scarcity of arts education programs. National data repeatedly suggests that the child groups most afflicted by obesity are the ones who also suffer disproportionally from cuts to K–12 public school arts education. Years of research show that arts education is closely linked to social and emotional development, academic achievement, civic engagement, and equitable opportunity. By engaging youth in our dynamic art and food program, we are cultivating future generations of art enthusiasts and healthier eaters, too.
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With Food in Mind’s core program, Artists in the Kitchen, reflects many of the organization’s values and inspirations.
Artists in the Kitchen is motivated first and foremost by rising rates of childhood obesity. In the United States, nearly one in three children are overweight or obese. The numbers are even higher in low-income areas and in communities of color. Nearly 40% of the children in African American and Hispanic communities are overweight or obese, placing them at greater risk for heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Artists in the Kitchen was created with the belief that increased food education is necessary to combat these statistics.
Also affecting young people’s well-being is the scarcity of arts education programs. National data repeatedly suggests that the child groups most afflicted by obesity are the ones who also suffer disproportionally from cuts to K–12 public school arts education. Years of research show that arts education is closely linked to social and emotional development, academic achievement, civic engagement, and equitable opportunity. By engaging youth in our dynamic art and food program, we are cultivating future generations of art enthusiasts and healthier eaters, too.
WE BELIEVE
- Good food choices begin with hands-on food education. Young people who are informed about food–where it comes from, how it grows, and the many ways to prepare it–are better equipped to make healthier eating choices as adults.
- People of all ages learn best when all of their senses are engaged. Multi-sensory learning creates a lasting impression and is the ideal educational experience. When students are able to see, touch, hear, taste, speak, and perform, they learn to make connections between materials and subjects, as well as differentiate physical properties. multi-sensory learning leads to rich and engaging experiences.
- Kitchens and cooking hold many valuable life lessons and skills: failure, success, confidence, responsibility, patience, effective communication, the importance of safety and planning, and so much more. Food also plays a pivotal role in our individual and collective identities in terms of race, ethnicity, nationality, class, gender, and body image.
- Art education should be a requirement not a luxury. Children’s involvement in the arts is associated with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, verbal skill, improved motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork.
- Creativity is a main ingredient of inspired future generations. By exposing underserved youth to visual and culinary arts we create empowered future generations of food and art entrepreneurs and connoisseurs. Inspiration occurs when people see that there are more possibilities tomorrow than they realized there were yesterday.
- To teach is to learn. Artists who make teaching a part of their professional practice are critical to the future of art education and the growth of their own work. At Artists in the Kitchen learning occurs on both sides of the equation: resident artists learn from each other by way of collaboration, while at the same time enriching the lives of their students.
