What is Community CookShop? - Food Bank For New York City

Getting the best value for every dollar is the
key to keeping a family healthy and satisfied
on a tight budget. Community CookShop
helps participants get the most food at the
best quality for the lowest cost.
What is Community CookShop?
Community CookShop is a
joint venture of the Food Bank
For New York City and the
Mario Batali Foundation,
based on our shared belief
in the power of hands-on
learning to equip families for
a healthier future. This pilot is
modeled on CookShop, the
Food Bank’s successful
nutrition education program.
Community CookShop helps
children and their parents and
guardians develop nutrition
knowledge and cooking skills
to make healthy food choices
on a limited budget.
Offered in all five boroughs,
Community CookShop fosters
New Yorkers’enthusiasm and
appreciation for wholesome,
accessible foods.
Community CookShop is
funded by the Mario Batali
Foundation. All Community
CookShop recipes have been
developed by
Chef Mario Batali.
Community CookShop, a family-oriented health and nutrition education
program, engages parents, caregivers and their children in practicing
strategies to get the best value for their money. Together, participants will
enhance skills for maximizing their food budgets, learn tips for maintaining a
healthy lifestyle, and prepare tasty recipes developed by Chef Mario Batali.
What will Community CookShop participants do?
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Prepare simple, healthful dishes with ingredients found in food pantries.
Practice budget-saving planning, selection and storage techniques.
Find out about services that can expand their family’s food budget.
Receive recipes and ingredients to use at home with their families.
Learn how food choice affects health.
How does Community CookShop work?
Community CookShop will be offered at food pantries and soup kitchens
where participants access hunger relief services. On-site leaders will
engage families in six short workshops. Sites will receive all materials, supplies
and training at no cost, as well as volunteer support.
For more information
or to get involved, visit
foodbanknyc.org/go/cookshop
or e-mail cookshop@foodbanknyc.org
Why cook with kids?
Research shows children are more likely to eat foods they
recognize, and are especially likely to try foods they have
prepared themselves. Cooking with family members gives
kids the experience and exposure needed to become
familiar with healthy foods, and to learn to enjoy them.
C
hildren
need to
see, smell,
touch or taste new
foods at least 12
times before they
start to like them.
Is a healthy diet
affordable?
In Community CookShop, participants prepare
recipes using nutritious ingredients that can
be found in local stores and food pantries.
Simple recipes, shopping strategies and
food storage tips help participants save
time and money while providing their
families with tasty, wholesome meals.
N
utrition education is essential to fighting food poverty.
Emergency food programs help people get through the toughest times,
while income support programs help individuals and families keep food
on the table. Nutrition education is also key to lasting change, empowering
people to make healthy, cost-effective food choices with available resources.
The Mario Batali Foundation was established to feed,
The mission of the Food Bank For New York City is to provide food,
protect, educate and empower children, encouraging them to
information and support for community survival and
dream big while providing them with the necessary tools to
dignity. As New York City’s only hub for integrated food services,
become an active force for change in today’s world. In an
the Food Bank tackles food poverty on three fronts:
effort to do so, the MBF strives to ensure all children are
food distribution, income support and nutrition education.
well read, well fed and well cared for.