St. Barnabas Teaching Kitchen promotes healthy, nutritious cooking with simple ingredients
NEW YORK - Residents in the Bronx are learning how to cook up easy, nutritious meals through a program offered at St. Barnabas Hospital to promote healthy lifestyles.
At the Teaching Kitchen inside the Health and Wellness Center, each creation comes a little technique and creativity, plus a side of friendship, a dose of laughter, and teamwork.
"I love how everybody comes together, how everybody works together," said Wanda Mendez, a Culinary Nutrition Educator at the Teaching Kitchen.
Mendez says the class creates a sense of community, while educating participants about how easy it is to prepare fresh, nutritious meals with simple ingredients.
"This class definitely lets you know it doesn't matter, you can use a can of corn that you can find at your local bodega for this recipe," explained Mendez. "You can use basic ingredients to make amazing recipes."
The Health and Wellness Center first opened in 2020 to promote healthy lifestyles in an area of the Bronx that struggles with food accessibility and affordable costs. New York City Food Policy Center reports 26% of residents face food insecurity and 54% receive SNAP benefits in the Belmont and East Tremont neighborhoods.
Some of these ingredients are pulled directly from the wellness center's rooftop garden, and every class learns and prepares a new recipe with an educator by their side.
Jasmine Kelly tries to attend a class each week and says the recipes represent the melting pot of the Bronx.
"With this food is basically international, we're not just cooking one type of food, you get a taste of all parts of the world here in the Bronx," said Kelly.
From farm to table, each recipe is meant to inspire healthy cooking and create memories to enjoy them all together.
"I love it… it's like home, I really am, that's how I feel," said Mendez.
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