Our non-profit mission ‘Get Cooking’ was just featured by Orlando news station WESH-TV and news journalist Megan Mellado. My partner, Stacie Archer and I are very grateful and want to share it with you. For background ‘Get Cooking” works with food insecure families to teach them how to budget, shop and cook a healthy dinner for a family of four for under $20. We seek to change the mindset that eating healthy is expensive and tasteless by offering interactive classes that excite and inspire nutritious eating. We have identified and utilize the most acclaimed Chefs in Orlando to teach. There is one class per month. I am the Culinary Director and led the first class in March of this year. Eleven more in the next eleven months. Our goal is to do this for years to come. Our major supporters include ‘Florida Blue’, ‘Healthy West Orange’, and ‘4Roots Farms’. ‘4Roots’ by John Rivers does the heroic job of marshaling the meal kits that are provided pro bono to the families. They are delivered to the homes of the families.
We are unique because our classes are taught virtually (Zoom) and in real time, (live) by award-winning chefs, allowing families to learn hands-on style in their own home kitchens. By teaching these families where they live, instructing them on how to use their own kitchen tools and appliances, we are helping them develop the confidence that they can re-create this recipe again on their own. The children of the families are more often than not cooking with their mothers. We are also giving families the chance to interact with the instructor chef, ask questions, repeat instructions as we are with them step by step as they prepare dinner. As you can see, ‘Get Cooking’ is not another demo class or produced cooking video. It’s real hands-on learning in the truest sense.
Norman Van Aken is the Founder, Chef and Co-Owner of NORMAN’S in Orlando. A James Beard Multiple Award Recipient.