From slicing peppers and blending avocados to chopping cilantro and juicing limes, New Orleans-area middle schoolers spent a spring Saturday morning learning the art of preparing a nutritious and flavorful meal.

The lesson took place at Tulane University’s Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine in Mid-City, where students prepared burrito bowls and mango sorbet as part of the curriculum of the Culinary Medicine Initiative (CMI), a volunteer organization led by Tulane students, including many aspiring physicians.

But there was more to the morning than cooking. They learned how to safely use a knife, how to extract DNA from strawberries and why poor nutrition can lead to conditions like heart disease.

“Nutriton is a significant risk factor for chronic disease,” said Tulane alumnus Michael Yang (SSE ’23), CMI’s executive director, who will begin his first year at the Tulane University School of Medicine this summer.

With Louisiana consistently ranking near the bottom of states with the highest childhood obesity rates, Yang was determined to do something about it. So he launched the Culinary Medicine Initiative in 2023 as a way to combine cooking education with essential knowledge about the human body.

The free classes, supported by Tulane’s Center for Public Service, are led by Tulane undergraduates under the guidance of Chef and Registered Dietician Heather Nace, Goldring’s director of operations. CMI is one of Tulane Center for Public Service’s many umbrella student organizations.

Since its founding, classes have reached more than 200 New Orleans youth ages 8-10 from nearly 30 schools and zip codes. This spring, CMI expanded its curriculum to include middle schoolers ages 11-13.

“CMI’s mission is to increase access to nutrition, cooking and STEM education for New Orleans youth, to teach them how nutrition is related to disease,” said Yang. “We recognize the clear gap in nutrition education for children, and we’re committed to doing everything we can to help close it.”

Classes begin with an educational STEM+nutrition presentation created and led by CMI’s 11 executive board student leaders, before transitioning to the Goldring Center’s expansive kitchen, where students learn how healthy ingredients can be used to create tasty and appealing dishes.

Yang and his team recruit youth participants through social media platforms, public libraries and word of mouth. Mitchell Cohen, a neuroscience senior who helped shape the club as one of CMI’s first executive board members, has served as president of the Culinary Medicine Initiative since August 2023.

As president, Cohen manages curriculum development, which includes creating interactive PowerPoint presentations, games and activities that highlight specific nutrition topics such as the intersection between food, cardiology, vision and the immune system.

“During our presentations, we include several thought-provoking questions to spark curiosity and participation,” said Cohen, who plans to attend medical school. “Sometimes we take students to a nearby community garden where they can see firsthand where their favorite fruits, vegetables and herbs come from — an experience they love. These hands-on interactive elements make learning about food, nutrition and cooking both fun and meaningful.”

Brian Egana, 12, a seventh grader at Alice Harte Charter School, was among the 20 middle schoolers enrolled in one of the March classes. He was assigned to a team preparing corn and bean salsa. An aspiring chef, he said the class taught him that nutritious food doesn’t have to be boring and bland. “It was really fun learning and cooking at the same time,” he said.

Nace said she is impressed with what Yang and his team have accomplished in such a short time. “It’s been an exciting project for us to collaborate on,” she said. “The students have designed a health and nutrition-focused curriculum that pairs well with our healthy recipes. We know that kids eat a more diverse, nutrient-dense diet when they are involved in the cooking process, so we’re very excited to get kids exposed to cooking from a young age.”

Based on post-class surveys, Yang said, participants like Brian have expressed consistently positive feedback.

“They love it,” said Yang, who earned a master’s degree in nutrition and food science as a US-UK Fulbright Scholar in England. “They have fun. They learn something new and feel more confident in the kitchen. They always want to come back.”

In addition to the children’s cooking classes, CMI has led multiple community initiatives, including blood pressure screenings and nutrition presentations at STEM Fest at the Caesars Superdome.  “As time goes on, we’d love to continue expanding,” Yang said. “We want to have the greatest impact we can in the New Orleans community.”