Pink and Dude Chefs is a cooking program for middle school kids, 11-14. It was developed by STRIDE at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo County. We have brought a couple of pilot versions of the program to Santa Barbara County, because it fits in well with our community leader-directed approach to running programs. There is online training available for the volunteers running the program and the kids benefit from a twice a week program in an after school setting. This culminates in a fiesta where the kids cook for the parents and the awarding of chef’s hats and certificate. This is real cooking of good food with real knives, and it is a wonder to behold.
We recently completed two pilots of the program, which were a huge success and we look forward to expanding the program significantly in the coming year.
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