30/08 2010
Kitchen Divas 2010 Coming Soon
Please bookmark the Kitchen Divas program page for upcoming locations and schedule.
Kitchen Divas Program
Our Kitchen Diva sessions are approximately 2 hours beginning at 5:30PM. You are welcome to join us but enrollment limited to first 20 participants.
Time is flying and we have health and well being on our mind. We also have a challenge among a few members lose 10 pounds a month. Care to join our challenge? See us at the Kitchen Divas class
Community Chefs/Cooks
We have asked 
community chefs and/or cooks to conduct one class each. This offers a variety of cooking styles, flavors and introduction to the many resources in our community to seek for assistance with food preparation. Each chef is asked to plan and prepare an interactive food demonstration for the participants. We expect to enroll no more than 20 participants per class session. From experience we have learned that participants are more open to the experience when they participate actively.
Kitchen Divas begins at the dinner hour, by taste testing throughout the class participants are able to be attentive to the lessons and not to their dinner hour hunger pains. We have found it wise to prepare a appetizer for immediate consumption as the session begins. Please come early enough to be prepared to begin the session on time. We know food preparation takes time, as well the planning for food preparation by the participants (i.e. setting up work stations, laying out food and utensils)
The most often asked question about Kitchen Divas is it for vegetarians. While we are not trying to convert folks to being a vegetarian, we are focused on increasing the fruits and vegetables in our diets. So we answer yes, this class welcomes vegetarians and will not be focused on meat.
At the end of the evening participants will have participated in the preparation of and sampled food to create a menu for one complete meal.
Kitchen Divas is a pilot program with research goals. Our primary goal as well research question: Will women participating in a series of healthful cooking classes that include professionally guided education discussion and peer support reduce their risk and increase health and well being through modification of nutrition knowledge, cooking practices and eating habits, and preventive health practices. Objectives include;
a. Enhance knowledge, attitudes and behavior about cardiovascular, heart, and breast health and cancer risk reduction.
b. Expand healthful food preparation knowledge and skills (food purchase and cooking practices) and
c. Increase nutrition (increase fruits, vegetable and fiber and decrease fats and preserved meats)
Learn more about our Chef's here.
Community Benefit
Black Women for Wellness, research team and consultants have identified many community benefits from both the research and the published story of our journey including;
Validation of community influence on health and well being through modeling, social support systems and assets
Identification of environmental influence on health and well being plus strategies to improve the environment (increased fresh fruits, salad bars and other health enhancing items in local stores)
Community driven research in partnership with academic institution as we work toward reducing health disparity many communities have information long before researchers & academic institutions on health challenges and/or threats plus concepts on balance and counteracting the challenges
Enhanced health and well being
Expanded culturally appropriate and gender focused effective health education strategies
Increased research skills inside community
Building and promoting community assets through opportunity to publish and promote positive community actions improving health and well being
We all know the statistics!
Take a look around, most (over 65%) of African American women self report as being overweight. And eating is a social endeavor. Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS) reports that 62.5% South Los Angeles residents are overweight (BMI > 25) in contrast to 52.3% of county residents, and 71.2 % do not exercise regularly in contrast to a countywide 60.7%. The four leading causes of death among African American women are heart disease; cancer; cerebrovascular diseases including stroke; and diabetes. Obesity and sedentary lifestyles are major risk factors for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. What is more, according to the American Obesity Association, obesity is associated with increases in deaths from all causes. According to the Key Indicators of Public Health Report issued by the DHS, our community is poorer, less educated, less healthy and less well-nourished than other county residents. It is our responsibility to develop solutions to our challenges, a task Black Women for Wellness is actively participating with through Kitchen Divas (Sisters in Motion program).
