Food Relief for NYC Families Affected by COVID-19

1.5 million New York City residents cannot afford food today — and many are children. In response to this crisis, you generously donated, and because you did, we have provided more than 75,000 food packages to thousands of hungry families. For so many kids, this has made the difference between skipping dinner, or having a nutritious meal to eat.

But it doesn’t stop at providing food packages. Shortly after the pandemic started, Children’s Aid staff member and professional chef Mario Landaverde, RDN, began hosting virtual nutrition and cooking lessons for our 3- through 8-year-olds. “At first, I was worried that they wouldn’t be engaged,” Mario said. “But I definitely underestimated what we could do virtually!”

For many kids, especially the ones cooped up indoors without much to do, it’s become the highlight of their week. They get to socialize with their friends and participate in interactive activities, like a food scavenger hunt. During the scavenger hunt, Mario invites his Children's Aid colleague Reina Perez to help out. Together, they challenge the youngsters to bring specific fruits from their fridge and show them off to their friends, or, they might ask them to find objects that have a similar shape to a carrot. After they find their fruits and veggies, they put on their chef hats and watch Mario prepare the food, and practice the cutting motions along with him using their imaginary "chef knives." 

While the kids do have plenty of fun, Mario’s main goal is to use the lessons as an educational tool for the kids to become more familiar with healthy eating practices, and to teach some healthy cooking skills that they can then share with their parents.

“We are clearing up a lot of misconceptions, and helping families become savvy readers of nutrition labels. For example, we’ve had moms who believed children always need juice, until we informed them that it’s actually very sugary and not as healthy as water,” Mario shared. “For some of our immigrant families, they didn’t have the same vegetables in their native countries that we have in New York City, so we teach them how to integrate local produce into recipes.”

Staying healthy and eating well was important before the pandemic, but it’s become especially critical today. If a family member contracts the virus, they have better outcomes if they are eating right and staying healthy.

Mario recalls one special experience in particular he had recently. “I just had one student, Ian, who saw his mom drinking soda right after our lesson about healthy drinks. He asked her to consider a healthier alternative, and because of his special request, she replaced her soda with something better.”

Links:

• Whitney Reuling Named 40 Under 40 Rising Star in Food Policy
• Nourishing a Family During the Pandemic
• Feeding Minds and Bodies With Books