In Gina's nourishing army

NEW YORK, NY, October 01, 2010 (Press-News.org) So chants The Nourishing Kitchen of New York, a 501(c)3 organization that fights the good fight against poor dietary health among lower-income individuals.

The general of this battle is Chef Gina Puzzanghera, who comes armed with formal culinary arts and nutrition education from the Art Institute of New York City and the New York University, respectively. Gina has worked in hunger management, running community food kitchens; drawing on experiences from different areas of the food world such as culinary consulting, food writing, and fine dining.

Chef Gina's desire to combat urban hunger issues was awakened early on in her childhood. Coming from a poor family, Gina spent some periods of her childhood as a recipient of soup kitchen meals. These experiences fostered in her the spirits of gratitude and volunteerism.

To begin her war against food "insecurity" and food oppression, Chef Gina set up her HQ in a district considered to be a food desert, East Harlem. The area has the highest rates for both hunger and obesity in New York City. East Harlem's impoverished residents are unable to access healthy food like fruits and vegetables, and are forced to subsist on easily available, more affordable yet nutritionally-void fast food. Wanting to overturn this status quo, the battle plans were drawn up in 2008.

Chef Gina and her team formed a plan of action, a three-pronged approach which consists of the following : (1)feed, (2)educate, and (3) advocate.

The Nourishing Kitchen provides community members with nutritionally-sound, culturally sensitive meals. What sets the organization apart is how they are able to fill the need of individuals with special dietary needs (those struggling with compromised immune systems, diabetes, obesity, and malnutrition). Anyone who needs food is welcome at The Nourishing Kitchen, but this is especially true for those who suffer from poverty like the working poor and homeless.

But The Nourishing Kitchen has evolved from being a soup kitchen into a full community food program. Chef Gina believes that hunger can only truly be staved off with proper knowledge. This is why, apart from the feeding program, The Nourishing Kitchen also offers weekly "healthy eating" classes for free.

The strategy here is to introduce the attendees to affordable and nutritionally-dense grocery items and teach them how to prepare the food in ways that are healthy and delicious. It is important for people to know that there are better options around that don't cost an arm and a leg, or take hours to prepare.

Aside from the courses in nutrition, Chef Gina has also made it her goal to recruit and train more people in the fight against hunger with culinary classes for all ages. The Junior and Teen Chef programs teach kids the basics of culinary and nutritional information. Similarly, the Seniors program is a hands-on class where older citizens learn how to continue "a healthy lifestyle in light of decreasing budgets and physical mobility."

These lessons are created to be sensitive to the requirements of a predominantly Hispanic and African American population. In fact, for this year Chef Gina says they plan to standardize their menu and curriculum to make them available to non-profits, schools, and the like by utilizing the internet. She adds, "After conducting some research we have determined that no such resource currently exists. We have found online cooking courses, but we have yet to identify a provider that shares an emphasis on preventing dietary related illness as well as cooking".

Of course, for The Nourishing Kitchen to find victory against the scarcity of healthy food, it is important for them to recognize the need for sustainability. It is not enough to feed the poor, because after all the goal is to help the hungry and teach them how to prepare their own nutritious food -especially fruits and vegetables.

This is why The Nourishing Kitchen works to reduce their impact on the environment. Starting with local community garden plots to plump up their own produce supply, the Kitchen branched out with an Urban Free Produce program where they give out fresh, seasonal produce once a week. Due to these enterprises, The Nourishing Kitchen of NYC is now certified green by the Green Restaurant Association and is currently the only soup kitchen in the country to be recognized as such.

Generous and dedicated as The Nourishing Kitchen may be, General Gina and her cohorts cannot go it alone. This is especially true when the holiday approaches, because poor nutrition and hunger never take a holiday. That said, volunteers are always needed at 281 Pleasant Ave, New York. Chef Gina welcomes people who can spare their time and talents to raise funds, serve meals, grow produce, and deliver meals to the elderly. Financial donations may also be sent through EatWellNYC.org.

In order to raise awareness about The Nourishing Kitchen's efforts to defeat malnourishment, Chef Gina ordered postcards from UPrinting. UPrinting is proud to offer Chef Gina's army a printing sponsorship for the postcards which she uses as handouts about their projects.

In addition to this, as a member of the UCommunity, The Nourishing Kitchen is also eligible to 10% off all succeeding printing orders. Chef Gina says "We are happy to be a part of the UCommunity Program" and UPrinting, is as glad to support the battle against hunger.

What is The Nourishing Kitchen of NYC?
The Nourishing Kitchen of New York City is a not-for-profit Community Food Center that is reaching the community of East Harlem and beyond through free (and healthy) hot meal programs, basic nutrition classes, and Junior/Teen/Senior Chef programs. The Kitchen is located at 281 Pleasant Avenue in Manhattan. If you would like more information on the Kitchen or one of its many programs please go to http://www.eatwellnyc.org.