Take Back the Kitchen

Food Desert Blog Series- Part 2

Take Back the Kitchen

One of the most recent graduates of SBN’s Sustainable Business Leader Program is the Haley House Bakery and Café. This unique project in Roxbury’s Dudley Square has not only taken major steps toward being a greener business, but is also working, through it’s Take Back the Kitchen Program, to address issues of nutrition among youth in Roxbury. Recently I visited Haley House Bakery and Café Chef Didi Emmons and Program Coordinator, Robin Saunders. Over Didi’s famous chocolate chip cookies, I learned all about Take Back The Kitchen’s innovative approach to nutrition education. In Chef Didi Emmons’ opinion, Dudley square is a food desert. There are few grocery stores in Roxbury and Haley House, she says, is one of the only places to get a healthy meal. Some of the biggest barriers to good nutrition are access and education. If people don’t know what goes into a healthy meal or how to make one for their family, or even why what they are eating is unhealthy, they cannot begin to make positive changes.

Take Back the Kitchen aims to change this phenomenon in the Roxbury neighborhood by teaching kids how to cook so that they have the confidence and ability to make healthy food at home. 

Twenty-two local schools, after-school programs, and extra curricular programs send groups to work with Chef Didi and her staff at Take Back the Kitchen over a number of weeks. Through hands on practice, lots of fun, and a little nutrition education on the side, students learn to like things they never liked before, to use basic cooking skills, and to build their very own recipe booklet. The program is free to all students who get the opportunity to go. The Noonday Farm, which is affiliated with Haley House Bakery and Café, is a popular fieldtrip destination for students in the Take Back the Kitchen program. At the farm students learn where the food they are cooking comes from. “Kids can really tell the difference” when they use fresh produce from the farm, Chef Didi explained, “The response is very positive.”

Today, people in the US work on average 7 hours per week more than they used to which is to say they are doing a lot less cooking at home. Additionally, it is estimated that urban youth eat more than 70% of their food outside the home, much of it is processed, not homemade, and packed with trans fats and sugars. Chef Didi is working to “put the focus back on food” through the Take Back the Kitchen program. Ideally, after going through the program, students learn skills about healthy cooking and eating that they can then bring home and teach to their parents. However, even if their habits aren’t changed, Chef Didi says, Take Back the Kitchen gives kids a positive environment to be in.

Take Back the Kitchen and Haley House Bakery and Café are programs that address the widespread and multi-layered issue of food deserts in an innovative way. They not only work to improve nutrition but also work toward building community and a sense of belonging and confidence among youth. Here at SBN, we feel very lucky to be affiliated with such an innovative program. Next time you are in Dudley Square, be sure to stop by Haley House Bakery and Café. Check out the great work they are doing and treat yourself to a chocolate chip cookie! 

Genevieve Hale-Case is the Local and Sustainable Food Intern with the Sustainable Business Leader Program. She can be reached at Genevieve@sbnboston.org