When kids learn to cook early on, they are more likely to develop better eating practices, and health, later in life.

Go!Healthy launched Go!Chefs in 2006 to provide hands-on, cooking-based nutrition education for students K-12. The program aims to engage youth around eating healthy foods and to ensure they have the knowledge and skills to make healthy choices and to prepare simple, accessible, seasonal recipes that feature fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Culinary excellence

Go!Chefs provides cooking-based nutrition education for children and youth, ages 6-18, through weekly cooking classes in Children’s Aid after-school and summer enrichment programming. The curriculum teaches kids the difference between whole and processed foods, components of food advertising, and kitchen and knife safety. Classes simulate a lab environment, where students review nutritional recipes and demonstrate a fundamental understanding of cooking processes and kitchen operations. The program culminates with the annual Iron Go!Chefs competition, which brings together youth from across Children’s Aid sites to challenge their peers in making the best-tasting and healthiest dishes in front of a panel of esteemed judges.