Senator Chris Coons Spends Morning with Food Bank of Delaware Kid C.H.E.F.S

www.fbd.org

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Contact: Kim Kostes

(302) 444-8074

Senator Chris Coons spends morning with Food Bank of Delaware “Kid C.H.E.F.s”

Wilmington, Del. (July 9, 2012) – Ten “Kid C.H.E.F.s” from Elbert Palmer Elementary School joined special guest “chefs,” Senator Chris Coons, and his daughter, Maggie, to learn about healthy eating.

Decked out in chefs’ hats and aprons, the kids and Senator spent the morning practicing measuring and food safety skills and learning how to make healthy, easy fruit smoothies as part of the Food Bank of Delaware’s Kid C.H.E.F. (Cooking, Healthy, Easy Foods) program.

Kid C.H.E.F. is a skills and knowledge-building program that focuses on teaching children about healthy eating and how they can learn to prepare nutritious easy foods on their own. Each Kid CHEF module includes a series of five interactive sessions highlighting the key groups of the United States Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate for Kids.

Food Bank of Delaware Community Nutrition Educator Kyle Takayma focused today’s session on the importance of a diet filled with fruits. “Fruits help kids learn and grow,” he explained to students. “It’s important to eat at least one-and-a-half cups of fruit each day. Eating healthy not only tastes good, but is fun.”

Using a set of measuring cups and utensils provided by the food bank, children blended fruit juice, yogurt, fresh blueberries and strawberries to create a healthy, homemade fruit smoothie.

“The Food Bank of Delaware’s Kid C.H.E.F. nutrition program gives children the tools to make healthy choices when it comes to meals and snacks,” Coons said. “My daughter and I really enjoyed working with the kids, and we even learned a few new recipes that we’re looking forward to trying out at home. The work of the Food Bank of Delaware continues to fill a critical need for the thousands of Delawareans at risk of going without meals each year.”

Each Kid C.H.E.F session includes child-centered discussions, hands-on activities, recipe making and testing, and take-home information for parents. Children receive their own apron, chef hat, oven mitt and drawstring bag of utensils to prepare recipes in each class.

The Food Bank of Delaware is currently looking for sites throughout the state that are interested in hosting Kid C.H.E.F. this fall. For more information or to schedule a class, please contact Takayama at (302) 292-1305 ext 249 or .

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The Food Bank of Delaware distributes between seven and 10 million pounds of food and grocery products each year its network of 475 hunger-relief program partners throughout the state and also provides thousands of meals a month for children through the After-School Feeding Program, the Summer Food Service Program and the Backpack Program. The Food Bank’s hunger-relief programs directly provide for 261,600 Delawareans at risk of going without meals each year. For more information about the Food Bank of Delaware, visit www.fbd.org or call (302) 292-1305.