About Us

Mission

Rooted in the belief that food is medicine, CHEF is a Culinary Health Education Program that teaches children and families basic nutrition and practical cooking skills, with the long-term goal of motivating individuals and communities to adopt and sustain healthier eating habits. Since 2019, we have reached more than 106,000 students in 238 schools throughout San Antonio. 

In September 2023, CHEF became part of the San Antonio Food Bank as their signature culinary nutrition education program. This partnership will allow programming to grow exponentially into additional schools and communities in Southwest Texas.

 

CHEF Recipe for Life:
Cook Well
Learn simple skills to cook healthy foods at home
Eat Well
Explore wholesome and delicious flavors
Live Well
Embrace good food as your body’s best medicine
Each CHEF class is carefully designed to:

Emphasize the health benefits of plant-based foods

Include a variety of fruits & vegetables to increase beneficial colors and visual appeal to meals

Explore flavor development through the use of herbs & spices

Promote wholesome foods and decrease the consumption of added sugars & highly processed foods

Demonstrate portion sizes of a well-balanced diet

Utilize local, seasonal foods whenever possible

Teach simple cooking methods to promote overall wellbeing

CHEF has been rigorously evaluated by independent researchers including UT Health San Antonio, Texas A&M University – San Antonio, and Westat, Inc. a nationally recognized research and evaluation firm, and has been shown to have positive, statistically significant outcomes.

These Impact Outcomes include improvements in student’s:

Nutrition Knowledge

Understanding and retention of basic nutrition concepts and healthy lifestyle tenets.

Self-Efficacy

Confidence/competence to apply lessons learned in CHEF class at home.

Healthy Eating Behavior

Adoption, implementation, and fidelity to healthy eating practices and the regular practice of cooking/eating at home.

Students who complete CHEF:

Are more likely to eat a healthy breakfast

Eat more fruits and vegetables

Have increased confidence in the kitchen

Drink less sugary beverages