This school year, approximately 180 sixth-grade students in Family & Consumer Sciences classes at Boynton Middle School and DeWitt Middle School stepped into the kitchen to build practical cooking skills while exploring how food choices can support lifelong health.
The hands-on program was made possible through a partnership between the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) and the Coalition for Healthy School Food, an organization that has worked alongside the district for nearly two decades to expand nutrition education and increase access to healthy foods.
The partnership began in 2008 with a fresh fruit and vegetable snack initiative at BJM before growing into recipe development with Moosewood and classroom nutrition lessons connected to school meals. Today, that collaboration continues by bringing cooking and nutrition education directly into ICSD classrooms.
Over the course of 4o instructional days, Coalition educators worked with students during Family & Consumer Sciences classes, leading cooking activities, nutrition lessons, and food tastings. The organization invested more than $18,000 in staffing, ingredients, and supplies to support the program.
Students prepared a variety of recipes, including Egyptian Red Lentil Soup, Awesome Bean Burgers, Chickpea Salad Sandwiches, Hummus, and Nachos, while practicing kitchen safety, measuring ingredients, reading recipes, and working together in teams. Along the way, many students were introduced to new ingredients and flavors, with several sharing that they recreated recipes at home with their families.
The cooking experiences were paired with nutrition lessons that explored the role of whole, fiber-rich plant foods in supporting long-term health. Students also examined how food connects to culture, environmental sustainability, and social justice, while learning how informed food choices can support both personal and community well-being. Recipe tastings created opportunities to discuss the ingredients, nutritional value, and the traditions that inspired many of the dishes. Students also got to taste pure fruit sorbet with no added sugar, crispy tofu bites, and tofu “bacon.”
By combining practical cooking experience with nutrition education, the program helped students build confidence in the kitchen while developing skills they can use well beyond the classroom.
Community partnerships like this one help expand learning opportunities for ICSD students by connecting classroom instruction with real-world experiences. Through its continued collaboration with the Coalition for Healthy School Food, the district is helping students develop the knowledge and skills to make informed food choices, prepare healthy meals, and explore the many ways food connects to health, culture, and the world around them.