PUEBLO — The Pueblo Food Project's Youth Council is spending their summer trying to get their peers comfortable in the kitchen.
“I didn’t really realize it until I started cooking for myself how much better it tasted, because I’m making it. I created it, and then I get to kind of satisfy my taste buds with it as well," said Geonna King, one of the leaders of the Pueblo Food Project's Youth Council.
The "Fooducates" as they go by, are "a good combination of food and educating".
After a $10,450 grant, the organization decided to hand out meal kits throughout the summer to other families with kids, packed full of locally sourced ingredients, in an effort to teach young people how to cook healthy and easy meals for themselves.
“I kinda had to send a second response saying 'Is this really free?' and they said 'Yes, totally free',” said one mother who came to pickup a second meal kit with her daughter.
A survey by the the PFP found that roughly 33% of people in Pueblo say their family gets the majority of their meals from fast-food restaurants.
King says that after her own issues with food, she felt compelled to join the youth council.
“I think especially with COVID, I really wasn’t doing anything and so this was like, a good way to still be involved in the community and help other people, as well as educate myself."
#PUEBLO FOOD PROTECT YOUTH COUNCIL GIVING OUT MEAL KITS! 🍑🍆🍽 All of these goodies are being packed in bags & handed out to families who registered for the summer, in an effort to curb #food scarcity. Full story on @KOAA ‘s streaming platforms at 4 & 5! pic.twitter.com/gO1fCBIHaB
— Natalie Chuck KOAA (@NatalieChuck) August 4, 2021
The kits feature produce grown at Milberger Farms, as well as pasta and hot sauce made in Pueblo.
Plus, with every meal kit the youth council makes a step-by-step video for families to follow along with when cooking at home.
The youth council is also in the middle of painting mural on the Pueblo Levee.
If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming a Fooducate, the team is accepting applications. Find out more here.
