The Cook Up Your Future program, offered by La Tablée des Chefs, started in the spring of 2023. It offers youth an opportunity to connect with a professional chef to learn how to make simple and seasonal meals, in a supportive environment.
In addition to providing a chef to run the program, La Tablée des Chefs sent start-up kits for the youth that contained cooking utensils and a cookbook. The cookbook was thoughtfully prepared with recipes that are easily recreated outside of the program sessions and contain seasonal ingredients that are affordable.
The program runs four workshops a year with each workshop being comprised of five sessions. A session may have a theme, such as apples, and generally each session has a lesson plan. For example, if there is a theme around fruits or vegetables, the lesson plan could contain knife safety training, or if the theme is around chicken, the lesson could be about food safety.
Each session is approximately 2–3 hours long with 5–6 spots available for youth, so that there’s more hands-on involvement, and more one-on-one time between a youth, the chef, and CHV support staff.
The Cook Up Your Future program is taught out of CHV’s teaching kitchen that is located in the newly renovated Rights of Passage building.
Youth from the Rights of Passage program make up the cohort for the current workshop. They are supported by CHV staff who help the chef during the lesson and provide a sense of comfort to the young people attending, as staff are familiar with each youth’s needs and how to best support them.
For many youth, cooking is a new experience and some are nervous and anxious . As the young people work through the sessions and gain new skills, they learn that cooking can be an enjoyable experience. During the sessions, one thing becomes evident — the young people all take great pride in overcoming the challenge of something new and in their accomplishments.
Youth who have come into the sessions with a lot of anxiety about cooking have left feeling confident that they can replicate the dishes taught to them.
The youth are so proud of what they have accomplished that they share what they have prepared with others.
Sometimes, youth will take what they have prepared and eat as a group, which helps build a stronger sense of community.
“I love the Cook Up Your Future program because they [the chefs] are adaptable and they genuinely want to meet the youth where they are at. What I appreciate is that they offer cooking lessons that are intentional — there’s a purpose behind why they picked the ingredients, there’s a purpose behind why there’s a theme, and the intention is that they want the youth to enjoy cooking and be confident while doing it safely, by the end of the session.” – Kiera,Life Skills Coordinator for the Rights of Passage program
A big thank you to La Tablée des Chefs for providing such a unique and important program. We look forward to sharing more stories.