Culinary Kids Academy

I was well into adulthood before I learned to cook. As a child I subsisted on either elaborate gourmet meals like osso bucco prepared by my stepdad when he was in town, or frozen microwaveable meals purchased by Mom when he was traveling for work. Consequently, I concluded that cooking was either a massive time-consuming project or a major inconvenience, and either way, it wasn’t worth my time. I wish I could have had a program like Culinary Kids Academy in my life back then; I likely would have discovered my passion for food much earlier in life.

Culinary Kids Academy is a labor of love founded by Jill Collins and Cindy Snyder. Cindy, who owns the Star Keeper Café, has a passion for serving comfort food inspired by her childhood that is still nutritious and made up of fresh, choice ingredients. Jill, the director of nutrition for All Faiths Food Bank, has devoted her career to helping low-income families enjoy food that is healthy yet affordable. Their collaboration began years ago, when Jill began designing a curriculum for hands-on cooking classes that would assist low-income families in purchasing great ingredients and preparing delicious, nutritious meals on a food stamp budget. Cindy was Jill’s very first volunteer chef instructor. Their classes were such a success that other families in the community began to clamor for something that would be open to everyone, and so the idea for Culinary Kids Academy was born.