Scaling and Sustaining the Teaching Kitchen Across New York State

Grantee Name

Lenox Hill Neighborhood House

Funding Area

Healthy Food, Healthy Lives

Publication Date

May 2025

Grant Amount

$100,000

Grant Date:

2022

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In 2015, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House (LHNH) launched The Teaching Kitchen with support from NYHealth. The free training and technical assistance program helps food-serving organizations (e.g., nonprofits, public institutions, etc.) provide healthier, fresher, and local foods, without raising costs. Designed for food service staff involved in menu planning, purchasing, and meal preparation, the program offers a comprehensive manual, on-site visits, kitchen consultations, recipes, and one year of virtual technical support. With grants in 2018 and 2019, NYHealth supported LHNH‘s efforts to scale up the program.

In 2022, NYHealth awarded LHNH a grant to support the statewide expansion of The Teaching Kitchen. Under this grant, LHNH partnered with statewide food hubs and farmers to identify partnership opportunities with institutions looking to source healthier, local foods. It trained new nonprofits and schools using The Teaching Kitchen curriculum and leveraged data from large institutions, such as school districts, to show the successful impact of farm-to-institution interventions.

Outcomes and Lessons Learned

- Trained 171 nonprofit food service staff from 101 sites serving over 4.6 million meals annually;
- Strengthened relationships with more than 196 New York City nonprofits, 20 Hudson Valley nonprofits (primarily Area Agencies on Aging, older adult centers and soup kitchens), 16 Hudson Valley school districts, and 3 Long Island school districts, including the NYC Department for the Aging and Department of Education, the Culinary Institute of America, Weill Cornell Medicine, and Farm-to-Institution New York State;
Developed more culturally diverse recipes, published on The Teaching Kitchen website and cookbooks;
Created a new Teaching Kitchen promotional video and outreach materials to promote work online and at community events;
Provided 66 nutrition education sessions to 584 unique clients of Lenox Hill Neighborhood House programs, including Older Adult Centers, CARE Program for older adults living with dementia and their caregivers, and Early Childhood Centers.

This grant, awarded after the COVID-19 pandemic, allowed LHNH to update its training format based on lessons learned during that time. LHNH found that multi-day trainings can be difficult for organizations with daily operations, and in-person trainings enabled better hands-on learning and information exchange. In response, LHNH shortened its standard training from four days to four hours and tailored the content to each organization. The program now includes in-person and hybrid (in-person and online) sessions, and increased communication with participants before and after training.

For example, LHNH chefs might work with an organization to set specific goals, like switching from prepackaged foods to fresh produce. After a customized in-person training session, the organization can access The Teaching Kitchen Online, which offers self-paced lessons on topics like “More Diverse Grains” and “Less Meat, More Vegetables.” This mix of personalized, hands-on training and flexible online resources gives organizations practical tools to strengthen their farm-to-institution work in ways that match their community needs and staff capabilities.

During this grant, LHNH also trained organizations in cohorts, such as schools near each other in the Hudson Valley or Long Island, or older adult centers serving similar communities. Training in cohorts created opportunities for the organizations to share best practices, learn from, and support each other as they worked towards their nutrition goals.

Co-Funding and Additional Grants Leveraged: N/A

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