A youth cooking class in Cochrane is teaching kids about more than putting food on a stove.

The Boys and Girls Club of Cochrane and Area started running a Junior Chef Program this year, bringing kids into the kitchen to educate them on cooking and nutrition.

Laura Harper, Operations and Volunteer Coordinator, Boys and Girls Club, says the goal is to take youth back to the basics.

"We're trying to teach them about preparing things from scratch, instead of buying the processed food, easy packaged meals tend to be the norm nowadays," she says. "So we're teaching them to make things from scratch so they know exactly what's in their food."

Chefs will come and volunteer time to teach the participants how to properly use a knife, stove, and even skills some adults don't have.

"The kids are learning about how to break down a whole chicken, they're learning all these skills, getting something from scratch and breaking it down so they know how to cook. It helps with math, they learn how to divide a quarter cup into tablespoons."

She adds teaching kids to know what's in their food means the learning doesn't stop inside the kitchen.

"We would like to initiate composting, and we have a Tower Garden downstairs so we're teaching kids about how to grow vegetables. Unfortunately some kids have never seen vegetables growing, they don't know carrots grow in the ground, or that tomatoes grow on plants." 

For more information on the Junior Chef Program click here.