Youth Cooking Program

Youth Cooking Pilot Program

Our youth cooking pilot program hosts cooking classes for 14-18 year olds with the goal of teaching basic kitchen skills and recipes while instilling the value of supporting their local food system. Our goal is for youth to know how to confidently source fresh food and prepare a healthy meal by the end of the course!

What participants learn:

Students are introduced to various culinary skills from a professional chef as they prepare healthy meals with crops sourced from local farms.
From kitchen safety and knife skills to the art of sauteing and plate presentation, students walk away with a new appreciation for enjoying fresh, healthy food.
We also discuss sustainability in relation to food choices, addressing topics like seasonality and the health benefits of eating whole foods.
Offering a chance to experience what it takes to grow food and harvest fresh bounty, we visit a local farm where we work side by side with a farmer and see what is growing locally and why.

Video Feature

Program Slideshow

What’s Next?

Our vision is for programs like this one to engage our youth and wider community in the local food system while building culinary career skills.

We are striving to build interest in the creation of a program that supplies healthy meals to those who need it most. Inspired by Ceres Community Project in Sonoma County, we would like to bring Solano County access to medically tailored meals prepared with locally sourced ingredients and made by local community members for those who are chronically ill. With a recent bill passed that allows insurance companies to cover the cost of these meals, we see a vital opportunity to bring our community access to healthy, locally sourced food prepared by fellow community members.

From workforce development to youth volunteers experiencing giving back with a purpose, we believe this program could offer many long-term benefits to Solano County.

Interested in bringing a youth cooking program to your organization or helping us with this larger vision? Contact Program Manager Lauren Gucik at lauren@sustainablesolano.org

Learn More

2022 Benicia & Vallejo Demonstration Food Forest Tour is April 23!

by sustainablesolano | Apr 1, 2022 | Benicia Sustainable Backyard, Local Food, Resilient Neighborhoods, Soil Health, Solano Sustainable Backyard, Sustainable Backyard Rio Vista, Sustainable Fairfield Backyard, Sustainable Suisun Backyard, Sustainable Vacaville Backyard, Vallejo Sustainable Backyard

We will be opening up our demonstration food forest gardens in Benicia and Vallejo for the annual tour on April 23, and are thrilled to be back with our regular tour!

New Program to Focus on Air Quality in Fairfield

by sustainablesolano | Feb 25, 2022 | Air Quality, Education, Listening Circles, Press Releases, Uncategorized, Youth Engagement

A new program that will focus on air quality concerns, causes and solutions will help Fairfield residents to address air pollution within the community. Sustainable Solano was recently awarded a $260,000 Community Air Grant that will support the planning and implementation of this new program over the next three years.