WISH LIST $500: food for one week of classes $1000: enrollment in Brainfood Summer Institute; $2500: enrollment in Brainfood After School

At Brainfood, volunteer nutritionists, farmers, chefs, restauranteurs, and a dedicated staff are educating DC teens about life … by teaching them to measure, chop, stir, slice, and julienne. Brainfood counts on the universal appeal of food to attract students from local high schools to an after-school program that gets them off the street and into the kitchen, giving them real-life skills that might break their dependence on the local McDonalds or even gain them admission to the prestigious Culinary Institute of America. And it’s an approach that seems to be working. Demands for its services brought expansion to a second DC location, so Brainfood now has facilities in Columbia Heights and Chinatown, allowing it to attract youth from all eight wards of the District. More than 125 young people will be served each year. What they sign up for is a cooking course—with a twist. Brainfood teaches them to shop for and prepare nutritious foods, present an elaborate meal as a form of creative expression, and study other cultures by learning about their eating practices. A structured curriculum teaches students about the food industry, and the culture and politics of food, science, and nutrition. Once kids are proficient in the kitchen, Brainfood gets them out into the community where they volunteer at the Capital Area Food Bank, DC Central Kitchen, and N Street Village. Brainfood and your sustenance: now there’s a recipe for success!

Paul J Dahm, Executive Director 1525 Newton Street NW Washington, DC 20010 202-667-5515 www.brain-food.org