named programs · 4 · from sources
What they call their work
CHEF Program
Youth development initiative focused on culinary education, health, and empowerment through hands-on cooking experiences.
Dinner Party
In-school program for elementary students that teaches nutrition, cooperation, and family engagement through planning and preparing multi-course meals with parents.
Nibble with Willow
Early childhood nutrition and cooking program featuring a puppet character to engage young children in healthy eating habits.
Teen Battle Chef
National culinary and nutrition skill-building program for teens, delivered in partnership with schools and community organizations to teach healthy cooking and life skills.
activities · 5 groups
What they do
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Youth and Family Cooking Education 6 activities
- Deliver culinary and nutrition education programs for youth and teensOperates youth-focused programs including Teen Battle Chef and Teen Iron Chef—seven- to fifteen-week after-school or summer culinary curricula that build nutrition knowledge, cooking skills, and self-confidence in adolescents. These include team-based cooking challenges, garden-to-table learning, and multidisciplinary programming in public housing communities, with online delivery during the pandemic reaching youth across multiple states.
- Deliver hands-on culinary and nutrition education programs for children and familiesOffers evidence-based, experiential cooking and nutrition programs for children and families, including age-appropriate activities using child-safe tools, seasonal produce, and familiar recipes enhanced with vegetables to build healthy eating habits. Programs include interactive lessons using puppetry, sensory play, and skill-building tasks like cutting, grating, and mixing, designed to increase kitchen confidence and promote healthy food choices at home.
- Develop and disseminate farmers' market and community-based cooking curriculaCreated and delivers a farmers' market curriculum featuring seasonal meals and interactive cooking demonstrations, developed in collaboration with the Bronx District Public Health Office. Includes six seasonal recipes across three demonstration cycles, with salad and hot meal components.
- Implement family-focused collaborative cooking programsRuns structured programs such as a 5-week family cooking curriculum and family night events that guide families through global recipe preparation, promote teamwork, and strengthen relationships via collaborative cooking, active listening, and mutual respect-building. These programs are designed to foster family conversation and shared mealtimes.
- License and scale evidence-based teaching kitchen curriculaDisseminates evidence-based culinary and nutrition education programs nationally and internationally through licensing and training partner organizations. Over 300 sites in more than 30 states have implemented these programs, reaching over 370,000 parents and children. Includes required training in food safety, public speaking, culinary skills, and child-safe engagement, with Spanish-translated materials available.
- Provide culinary education in school and classroom settingsImplements in-school culinary programs such as the Dinner Party initiative and standards-aligned curricula that integrate cooking with K-5 subjects including science, social studies, language arts, and health. Programs teach nutrition, cultural food practices, and cooperation, and are aligned with seasonal food availability and educational standards.
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Plant-Based Nutrition Education & Support Programs 1 activity
- Deliver food-as-medicine and chronic disease management programsConducts live and follow-up cooking and nutrition programs for individuals managing chronic conditions, including a six-class program with monthly sessions focused on health outcomes through dietary change.
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Kidney Disease Education and Advocacy 1 activity
- Develop specialized nutrition recipes for clinical populationsDeveloped hundreds of kidney-friendly, culturally diverse recipes for the American Kidney Fund’s Kidney Kitchen website, tailored to patients at all stages of kidney disease and reflecting varied ethnic food preferences.
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Food Policy Advocacy & Nutrition Education 1 activity
- Support healthy retail environments through interactive programsOperates CHEFS for Change and other healthy-retail initiatives that partner with grocery and corner stores to improve availability and marketing of healthy food options. Provides merchandising tools and customized promotions to drive impulse purchases of nutritious, ready-to-eat items based on local preferences.
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Uncategorized 1 activity
- Conduct and publish original research on behavior change in nutrition educationConducted seminal research identifying the "10 Experiential Drivers of Behavior Change" for Teaching Kitchen programs, published in peer-reviewed journals and presented in academic forums to advance the field of culinary nutrition education.
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financials · form 990 · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$685K
Contributions & grants$499K73%
Program service revenue$186K27%
Investment income$00%
Other revenue$0
expenses
Total expenses$626K
Program expenses81%
Admin / overhead16%
Fundraising3%
Salaries & benefits$137K
Grants paid out$0
Largest expense lineProfessional Fees
balance sheet
Total assets$211K
Cash$143K
Investments$0
Liabilities$86K
Net assets$125K
Liquid reserves2.8 mo
3 years on record · 2020–2024 · YoY revenue +40.6%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024
Who runs it
paid leadership · 1
| Name | Title | Hours/wk | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lynn Fredericks | President | 30 | $36K |
board members · 6
- Chris Cheung — Director
- Deirdra Chester PhD — Director
- Hazel A Witte Esq — Director
- Jimmy Carbone — Director
- Kerry Trueman — Director
- Khahlidra Levister — Director
relationships · 18
Who they work with
- 4food Partner — Partner restaurant where Teen Battle Chef alumni have interned and won recipe competitions, and where Executive VP Khahlidra Levister serves on the FamilyCook Board.
- American Dairy Council Northeast Partner — Partnered to livestream the Teen Battle Chef program to children across seven states during the pandemic.
- American Kidney Fund Partner — Partnered to develop kidney-friendly recipes for the Kidney Kitchen website.
- Bronx District Public Health Office of NYC Partner — Requested and collaborated on the development of the farmers' market nutrition and culinary demo program.
- Community Academy Public Charter School Partner — Partners with the school to implement the Dinner Party program, involving 8th grade students and their parents in a six-course meal event.
- Farmington Valley Health District Partner — Sponsors the Teen Iron Chef program at Canton High School in Connecticut.
- HealthCorps Partner — Collaborates on the Teen Iron Chef Competition with HealthCorps, including student participation and event co-hosting.
- Jimmy’s No. 43 Partner — Partner organization where Teen Battle Chef alumni have completed internships and where Chef Jimmy Carbone, owner, serves on the FamilyCook Board.
- Mayor’s Office for Criminal Justice Government — Collaborated on a three-year initiative to provide youth programming in high-crime public housing communities in New York City.
- National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse Partner — Cites research from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University to support the role of family meals in reducing youth risk behaviors.
- New York State Public Health Association Network — Recognized as the 2017 Public Health Leadership awardee by the New York State Public Health Association.
- PS 131Q Partner — Implements the Nibble with Willow program in classrooms, with observed benefits for students and teachers.
- PS 226 Partner — Hosts the Nibble with Willow program, where early childhood educators observe developmental benefits in students.
- Sur La Table Partner — Hosts the Teen Iron Chef “Final Battle” competition at its local location in Canton, CT, serving as event venue and judge host.
- USDA Human Nutrition Research Center Government — Government research affiliate where Dr. Deirdra Chester, a board member, conducts nutrition research and food consumption surveys.
- Willow Partner — Collaborates with Willow to deliver cooking classes for young children.
- YES Collaborative Partner — Partnered to deliver online culinary classes to youth in the Bronx through the Youth Empowerment Summer program in 2020.
- YouTube Partner — Hosts program-related video content, including a sneak peek of the Family Night event.
strategies · 4
How they approach the work
Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.
- Experiential Drivers of Behavior Changemethodology: experiential_drivers_of_behavior_changeBy engaging participants in hands-on, multisensory cooking and eating experiences grounded in 10 evidence-based Experiential Drivers, the organization produces sustainable healthy behavior change because experiential learning fosters deeper emotional and behavioral connections to food than knowledge alone.
- Healthy Retail with Behavioral Economicsmethodology: behavioral_economics_in_retailBy partnering with small grocery and corner stores to redesign merchandising and marketing, the organization increases healthy food access and choice because behavioral economics techniques make nutritious options more visible, appealing, and convenient at the point of sale.
- Radiating Effect Through Social Engagementmethodology: radiating_effectBy designing programs that foster emotional connection, family collaboration, and peer interaction around food, the organization creates a radiating effect where behavior change spreads through social networks because shared experiences amplify influence beyond individual participants.
- Train-the-Trainer with Scalable Deliverymethodology: train_the_trainerBy training local educators and mentors using low-barrier, turnkey, and virtual-ready models, the organization scales effective nutrition education because building local capacity increases program sustainability and reach across diverse community and clinical settings.