Navigating 2024-2025 Budget Challenges: Introducing Willow’s Subscription Plan for Schools

As schools across the country prepare their budgets for the upcoming academic year, a critical financial milestone looms on the horizon. The expiration date for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) III funds are fast approaching. These funds, initially provided to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, have been crucial in maintaining…
Read more

Cream of Asparagus Soup with Soft Poached Eggs

Yield: 4 servings Ingredients: Method:

In Sync With Nature: How Eating Seasonally Supports Child Nutrition

We live in an environment where child nutrition often takes the back burner in favor of convenience, even when educational programs designed to encourage healthy eating are in place. All too often, these programs are limited to the same narrow range of foods and fail to inspire lasting learning–but it doesn’t have to be that…
Read more

Come Together: How Aligning Systems Drives Impact

In NYC, Teen Battle Chefs create new school breakfast recipes, like these breakfast tacos. Integrated breakfast programs like these increase school breakfast participation, on-time attendance, and ensure children are fed and ready to learn.   As Teaching Kitchen practitioners look to scale up and significantly broaden impact, we look to tap into existing systems –…
Read more

Skill Reinforcement: Driver of Behavior Change

Skill reinforcement is a driver of behavior change for healthy eating patterns.   I’m always a bit surprised at how much faith teaching kitchen program designers place on cooking demos. No question: Demos can be very inspiring. They provide concrete ideas. They teach radically different (and much healthier) meal concepts than what their audience (usually…
Read more

Skill Building

Skill Building: Driver of Behavior Change

Skill building is a driver of behavior change for healthy eating patterns.   Teaching kitchen program design isn’t complete without skill building. While researching how our drivers of behavior change work at different ages, we learned something very interesting about skill building. For adolescents and adults, the process of skill building is the heart and…
Read more

Recipe Concepts

Recipe Concepts: A Driver of Behavior Change for Healthy Eating Patterns

This is the seventh article in a new series to illuminate key ‘drivers of behavior change’ around healthful eating. After 20 years of designing, evaluating and retooling curriculum to increase successful behavioral outcomes among all ages, we have identified 10 distinct behavior drivers. We are currently investigating these 10 drivers in a new study in…
Read more

Palate Development: A Driver of Behavior Change for Healthy Eating Patterns

This is the sixth article in a new series to illuminate key ‘drivers of behavior change’ around healthful eating. After 20 years of designing, evaluating and retooling curriculum to increase successful behavioral outcomes among all ages, we have identified 10 distinct behavior drivers. We are currently investigating these 10 drivers in a new study in…
Read more

Peer Support: A Driver of Behavior Change for Healthy Eating Patterns

  This is the fifth article in a new series to illuminate key ‘drivers of behavior change’ around healthful eating. After 20 years of designing, evaluating and retooling curriculum to increase successful behavioral outcomes among all ages, we have identified 10 distinct behavior drivers. We are currently investigating these 10 drivers in a new study…
Read more

Home Environment: A Driver of Behavior Change for Healthy Eating Patterns

This is the fourth article in a new series to illuminate key ‘drivers of behavior change’ around healthful eating. After 20 years of designing, evaluating and retooling curriculum to increase successful behavioral outcomes among all ages, we have identified 10 distinct behavior drivers. We are currently investigating these 10 drivers in a new study in…
Read more