SAN ANTONIO – School is starting for many in and around our community, and the San Antonio Food Bank is providing more education to tens of thousands of families thanks to a solidified partnership.
The CHEF Culinary Health Education Program will be integrated into the food bank’s activities and how it can help future generations across South Texas.
“Kids, older, elderly people, some families, seven or eight family members in their household. So we’re honored that we can help them out,” said Michael Barry, president of the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry program.
With the food bank’s help, Barry and his Nest Food Pantry help dozens of families across the East Side of San Antonio.
“You know, the more produce that we can get them, the more roughage that we get in their diet, which is good for them,” Barry said.
Nutrition, health, and education are key when raising children.
“This program initially got started to address specifically the rates of chronic obesity, diabetes, a lot of these diet-related issues here in our community,” said Raquel DeHoyos, CHEF’s manager for schools and community engagement.
That’s where DeHoyos and the CHEF program come in.
“CHEF is a Culinary Nutrition Education Program here in San Antonio, and we provide basic nutrition and culinary skills to youth in grades pre-K through eighth grade,” DeHoyos said.
The food bank helps tens of thousands of families weekly, but receiving the food is just the first step.
“The CHEF program will be an easy way to find simple, affordable, culturally relevant recipes,” DeHoyos said.
The non-profit CHEF organization has a new structure and will transition into the San Antonio Food Bank.
“Bringing the CHEF team with ours, we think, is really going to strengthen us because it’s just like, you know, the medical validation that they’ve done around their recipes, really emphasizing the healthy cooking part of that more than the San Antonio Food Bank has,” said Michael Guerra, sustainability officer of the San Antonio Food Bank.
The plan is to help out more families with food and nutritional guidance.
“Bring this full other layer to help the community eat better, cook better, and eat together at home. Just so we know that we can bring people together at home around a healthy recipe that our community is going to be better,” Guerra said.
“This is the pivotal point where our program really is wanting to mesh more in the community,” DeHoyos said.
If you are interested in helping the San Antonio Food Bank with a donation, you can do so here.
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