Why I Cook with My Kids and the Importance of the 4-H Food Smart Families Program

This post was sponsored by the National 4-H Council as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

One of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon is in the kitchen cooking with my children. I grew up making countless memories and learning to cook in my Nana’s kitchen and now I enjoy passing on what I learned to my children.

One of our favorite recipes is one I made countless afternoons with my Nana, Vegetable Soup. The kids get loaded with healthy veggies in every serving, plus it lets them get hands on with picking, chopping, and cooking lots of different vegetables.

I love being able to instill a love of healthy cooking in my children. However, I also know that I am lucky to be able to have the resources to do this for my family, with Nearly 16 million children living in households that don’t have consistent access to food throughout the year.

However, 4-H Food Smart Families is helping create more food secure homes by teaching families how to plan, shop and prepare healthy meals on a budget. Knowledge is power, and this is gives families who are struggling to make ends meet, the knowledge they need to be able to feed their families well.

Since 2011, UnitedHealthcare and 4-H have partnered together to deliver healthy living programs to more than 340,000 youth and their families in 14 states!

Teens at Teachers

The Food Smart Families program incorporates an effective 4-H “Teens as Teachers” model that uses the influence of young people by engaging teens to empower their peers and families today and to help establish life-long healthy habits.

More than 400 youth have been trained in the Teens as Teachers model and serve as mentors, teaching younger children and empowering their families to shop better and cook smarter.

There have been positive changes in youth behavior as a result of 4‑H Food Smart families, check out these amazing statistics: