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Gracie
Cavnar |
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Gracie Cavnar
56 - Houston, TX
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"I am committed to teaching kids about nutrition and their food – from seed to table. Our kids understand that food doesn't start in boxes or drive through windows, and are making healthier natural food choices."
In 2005, Gracie cooked up The Recipe for Success Foundation because she was alarmed at the explosion of childhood obesity. Equipped with a nutrition curriculum, teaching gardens and lessons from professional chefs, the foundation steers young people in Houston to healthy eating habits by introducing them to food from seed to plate. Recipe for Success programs are vital, given that nearly 50 percent of fourth graders in the Houston area were overweight, and the city's overall prevalence of obesity exceeds the state estimate of 35 percent.
With Gracie's leadership, fundraising and volunteer efforts, Recipe for Success reaches more than 3,000 children monthly and works with teachers to deliver cooking, gardening and nutrition instruction in five pilot schools. Each pilot school has a teaching garden with planting beds for most classrooms, after-school programs for all grade levels, and summer camps for fourth and fifth grade students.
Recipe for Success also brings the culinary talents of Houston's finest chefs into the schools. Chefs are paired with a fourth-grade classroom and give hands-on lessons in healthy cooking, eating and etiquette. They incorporate writing (essays on a favorite vegetable), math (measurements and fractions), cultural lessons (balsamic vinegar is from Italy), and science (the definition of an emulsion).
Gracie's collaborative efforts stretch beyond restaurants to other businesses and organizations. For example, GE employee volunteers funded a garden expansion, and volunteer for recipe garden classes, while Houston Garden Club members help maintain school teaching gardens. Recipe for Success also works with school district lunch providers to improve programs, with volunteer chefs who provide recipe suggestions and taste testing.
Today, Recipe for Success programs are so popular among the five pilot schools that there's a waiting list of school districts wanting to implement Recipe for Success in their schools.
That's why Gracie is a 2008
Woman Of Worth. |
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"I am committed to teaching kids their food."
Hear Gracie discuss her work
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ORGANIZATION
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