Chris
Daly has worked in some of the finest kitchens in New York, Los
Angeles and Paris during his 20 years in the restaurant
hospitality business. However, it wasn't until after he left
the city to work in Europe and California that he first got the
idea to create Hip4Kids, a New York-based non-profit
organization that teaches young people and their parents about
healthy cooking to help fight
chronic diseases
such as
diabetes
and
obesity.
Since its founding in 2001, Hip4Kids has been an important force
in teaching communities how to live healthier. Go to
www.Hip4kids.org
for recipes and other great information.
Q: What is Hip4Kids?
A: It is a not-for-profit organization in New York City run by people in the hospitality industry who want to help kids. We are focused on healthy eating and healthy lifestyles for kids to help fight obesity and diabetes. Hip4Kids was the pioneer in teaching underserved NYC communities and their children about healthy cooking.
We have started an educational website, hip4kids.org, that helps kids learn how to live healthier. For instance, the "victory garden" page (http://hip4kids.org/garden.htm) teaches kids how to grow fruits and vegetables on their own, whether its in a public growing area at a park or a single plant on a fire escape!
We also have public and community outreach programs called "HIP Demos" and "HIP Cooking 101 to 103" which are live cooking demos. We teach kids and their parents how to safely cook and handle healthy food. The skills and lessons people learn at these programs can be brought home to their family and friends.
We also have free lesson plans for teachers to use. These lesson plans are available to any teacher who wants one. In 2009, our free lesson plans made it to Rochester, Buffalo, Yonkers, Albany and Syracuse as part of their "Healthy Steps to Albany" websites. Additionally, every state in the U.S. has at least one school teaching our program.
Q:
How did you start Hip4Kids?
A: After returning to New York from Paris about eight or nine years ago, I started thinking about how to teach people about portions and health eating. I did some research and saw some things that were really alarming, like how high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is in almost all prepared foods and how eating too much of it could lead to chronic diseases such as diabetes. I knew we needed to teach young people about how to eat healthy and avoid foods that have a lot of high fructose corn syrup in them and eat smaller portion sizes.
Harlem Word: Chris Daly, the founder of Hip4Kids, talks about the importance of learning how to cook healthier
Chris
Daly is the founder of
Hip4Kids,
a New York-based non-profit that teaches young people
and their parents about healthy cooking. He tells us why
it's so important to learn how to cook better and eat
better even on a low budget!
Q: Your organization focuses on teaching others how to cook "better." Can this really improve our health?
A: Yes. I believe a major problem today is the lack of knowledge about cooking. We no longer have cooking classes in schools, like home economics, and if you ask the average student what they're cooking tonight they'll look at you like you're crazy. Kids no longer leave high school with basic knowledge of how to cook for themselves. If you learn how to prepare food, what foods to eat and what a portion is, it helps improve your health and your wallet.
Q: What would you say to someone who said healthy food costs more?
A: Hip4Kids is about teaching people about whole food: how to get it and how it's more affordable than many people think. Greenmarkets are everywhere in New York - many even accept food stamps. (Greenmarkets are New York City's local farmer's markets. For a list of locations and dates, check out http://www.cenyc.org/files/gmkt/map.pdf or go to http://www.cenyc.org/greenmarket for general information). One of our cooking demonstrations, sponsored by the Parks Department, taught the audience how to make four dishes. Each dish could feed four people with leftovers and cost under $5. Eating healthy doesn't have to cost you more.
Q: How can we help our kids lead healthier lifestyles? What are the most important things to do or know?
A: First and foremost, parents can start cooking some of the healthy recipes on the Hip4Kids website with their children. Also, try slowing down. Grab hold of your own schedule or lifestyle, put the breaks on and really think about what you can and will do to be healthier.
Harlem Word: Chris Daly, founder of Hip4Kids, talks about how his organization benefits Harlem
Chris
Daly's organization
Hip4Kids
helps educate kids and their parents about
eating and cooking healthier. Hip4Kids has
been providing free cooking demos, lectures,
health fairs and events for all 5 boroughs
for the past 8-9 years, including providing
the content for NYC Parks' "Wake Up/Shape
Up" program. Here, he tells us about
Hip4Kids' involvement in Harlem.
Q: How has Hip4Kids been involved in Harlem?
A: One of the main things that we have focused on is offering our program where it is needed most. When we first started, we were working with the Parks Department who was concerned about Harlem. While the problem of cooking and eating in a healthy way is common everywhere in the U.S., no matter what a person's income is, the problem is even bigger in lower-income areas such as Harlem. People with lower incomes aren't getting the same education as people with higher incomes. Harlem has been absolutely incredible in welcoming our programs into their community.
Q: How else could someone in Harlem benefit
from Hip4Kids?
A: Access the recipe database. (Check out the link http://www.hip4kids.org/hipchefs.htm to get simple but delicious and healthy recipes for all three meals of the day.) We also have a free lesson plan for teachers that gets kids involved. We've educated over 50,000 kids and their parents to date for about a dollar a kid. We are looking for donors and grants, and once that happens we hope to continue with our after-school programs and "HIP Demos" in Harlem and across the city.
Read more from Chris Daly by clicking the links below:
To listen to other interviews with Harlem health experts, click here for our podcast page.
Harlem Word is a series of interviews with community health experts written by HHPC and reviewed by our Health Advisory Board.
And, most importantly, good, healthy cooking does not mean dieting and starving yourself. If you eat the right portion, your body and mind will follow.
It's also important to build a supply healthy of food staples that you can cook with such as brown rice, flour, herbs, spices and healthy cooking oils so that you can cook whenever you want to.
