Common Ground | Kitchen

COMMON GROUND'S COMMUNITY KITCHEN
The heart of a home is its kitchen. So, too, is Common Ground's kitchen the center of our community. From this tiny space, Common Ground's chefs provide 150 high school students -- almost three quarters of whom qualify for free and reduced lunches -- with healthy, freshly made, no-cost meals every day of the school year. Our kitchen also models a short path from seed to table; in the fall especially, much of the produce we feed our students arrives fresh from Common Ground's 1-acre production garden. The kitchen is also a classroom -- a space where community members, children, and high school students learn how to cook, can, eat well, and understand the consequences of their food choices. Now, this kitchen is also a resource for the larger community -- a place where local residents can put up food, launch small businesses, and gather with others who care about their local food system.

Good Food For All Students

Our kitchen is on the frontline of the battle for good eating habits among our nation's teenagers. Every day, Common Ground prepares meals that are tasty, healthy, and free of charge for our 150 students. We are always taste-testing, refining, and asking questions in order to ensure that our food is nutritionally rich AND flavorful, rooted in our students' home cultures AND stretching their palates, combining international cuisines AND local ingredients. We like the challenge of this work -- and are eager to share the lessons we have learned.

Investing in students’ well-being is an act of citizenship. If young people learn to eat well early on, they will cost the country’s health care system a lot less in the future. A child’s health has a direct relationship to his or her educational success. Healthy students learn better and, just as importantly, they learn about nutrition and physical activities that will be used throughout their lifetimes. As a flagship in the campaign to improve teenage health, Common Ground leads the way in proving that healthy living is possible for children and families of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Common Ground students study culinary arts, help to prepare meals, and take courses about nutrition and healthy habits -- making our school lunches part of an all-hands-on-deck approach to student wellness.

What's cooking at Common Ground? Read our recipes.

We're committed to food safety. Read our food allergy plan.

The Harvester - A Community Kitchen

Common Ground is dedicated to building a strong, sustainable, local food system that ensures access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally relevant foods for New Haven's residents. In the summer of 2008, Common Ground received a generous grant from the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority -- an investment in this vision for local food. The CHEFA grant is allowing Common Ground to create a new sort of community center: a commercial kitchen, open to local entrepreneurs, gardeners, and community members. The Community Kitchen will be the launching point for a huge range of efforts:

Supporting gardeners, farmers, and entrepreneurs as they turn local food into value-added products: jams, granola, ready-to-eat treats, sauces and more.
Hosting community food programs, on topics from food preservation to cooking with the seasons.
Organizing "jam sessions" and sauce parties, where members of the community put up their own produce for storage.
Incubating student-led entrepreneurial ventures that produce Common Ground-brand products.

Farm to Table

At Common Ground, we keep the distance between seed and table short. Last year, our chefs artfully processed about three thousand pounds of organic produce from our own gardens: tomatoes and garlic, kale and potatoes, carrots and squash, and another two dozen vegetable varieties. Much of the harvest was served fresh to Common Ground students, while many pounds were turned into tomato sauce, pesto, and other preserved goods. Aligning a New England harvest schedule with the school-year calendar is our ongoing work, requiring good communication and a willingness to innovate.


	Kitchen COMMON GROUND'S COMMUNITY KITCHEN The heart of a home is its kitchen. So, too, is Common Ground's kitchen the center of our community. From this tiny space, Common Ground's chefs provide 150 high school students -- almost three quarters of whom qualify for free and reduced lunches -- with healthy, freshly made, no-cost meals every day of the school year. Our kitchen also models a short path from seed to table; in the fall especially, much of the produce we feed our students arrives fresh from Common Ground's 1-acre production garden. The kitchen is also a classroom -- a space where community members, children, and high school students learn how to cook, can, eat well, and understand the consequences of their food choices. Now, this kitchen is also a resource for the larger community -- a place where local residents can put up food, launch small businesses, and gather with others who care about their local food system. Good Food For All Students Our kitchen is on the frontline of the battle for good eating habits among our nation's teenagers. Every day, Common Ground prepares meals that are tasty, healthy, and free of charge for our 150 students. We are always taste-testing, refining, and asking questions in order to ensure that our food is nutritionally rich AND flavorful, rooted in our students' home cultures AND stretching their palates, combining international cuisines AND local ingredients. We like the challenge of this work -- and are eager to share the lessons we have learned. Investing in students’ well-being is an act of citizenship. If young people learn to eat well early on, they will cost the country’s health care system a lot less in the future. A child’s health has a direct relationship to his or her educational success. Healthy students learn better and, just as importantly, they learn about nutrition and physical activities that will be used throughout their lifetimes. As a flagship in the campaign to improve teenage health, Common Ground leads the way in proving that healthy living is possible for children and families of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Common Ground students study culinary arts, help to prepare meals, and take courses about nutrition and healthy habits -- making our school lunches part of an all-hands-on-deck approach to student wellness. What's cooking at Common Ground? Read our recipes. We're committed to food safety. Read our food allergy plan. The Harvester - A Community Kitchen Common Ground is dedicated to building a strong, sustainable, local food system that ensures access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally relevant foods for New Haven's residents. In the summer of 2008, Common Ground received a generous grant from the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority -- an investment in this vision for local food. The CHEFA grant is allowing Common Ground to create a new sort of community center: a commercial kitchen, open to local entrepreneurs, gardeners, and community members. The Community Kitchen will be the launching point for a huge range of efforts: Supporting gardeners, farmers, and entrepreneurs as they turn local food into value-added products: jams, granola, ready-to-eat treats, sauces and more. Hosting community food programs, on topics from food preservation to cooking with the seasons. Organizing "jam sessions" and sauce parties, where members of the community put up their own produce for storage. Incubating student-led entrepreneurial ventures that produce Common Ground-brand products. Farm to Table At Common Ground, we keep the distance between seed and table short. Last year, our chefs artfully processed about three thousand pounds of organic produce from our own gardens: tomatoes and garlic, kale and potatoes, carrots and squash, and another two dozen vegetable varieties. Much of the harvest was served fresh to Common Ground students, while many pounds were turned into tomato sauce, pesto, and other preserved goods. Aligning a New England harvest schedule with the school-year calendar is our ongoing work, requiring good communication and a willingness to innovate.