The Teaching Kitchen® at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House is a training and technical assistance program to help nonprofit organizations to convert their food services to a farm-to-institution model by serving more fresh, healthy and local food—without raising costs.

To date, The Teaching Kitchen has trained more than 500 nonprofit staff from 200 programs serving 17 million meals annually. Click here for an interactive map of past Teaching Kitchen participants or click here to view the full list.

The Teaching Kitchen is a year-long nuts-and-bolts food business course designed to share our model and best practices. Led by Teaching Kitchen Executive Chef Evelyn García and Chef Brianne Ross, the tailored curriculum, goal setting, kitchen consultations, technical assistance, ongoing professional development workshops, recipes and web-based resources help participants to transform their food programs. The Teaching Kitchen is currently developing a distance learning model to expand our impact across New York City, New York State and beyond.

farm-to-INSTITUTION goals

• Improve the health of individuals that rely on government-funded meals for food security and nutrition by making those meals healthier — more fresh food, less frozen and processed food, more plant-based and vegetarian meals and more whole grains;

• Localize institutional food systems and strengthen regional farms, economy and environmental sustainability;

• Support the professional development of the next generation of institutional cooks and program staff to help them build a healthier, more sustainable and more equitable food system.

The Teaching Kitchen helps organizations to serve more healthy and local food through a focus on serving plant-based meals, fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and less processed food.

Who should participate in the program?

• Nonprofit organizations serving government-funded meals that are cooked on-site, not catered

• Nonprofit food service program directors, chefs, managers and nutritionists and all those who design menus, order food supplies, provide oversight and prepare food

• Organizations who have a willingness to change their meal program to a farm-to-institution model!

Meet the Team

Evelyn García, Teaching Kitchen Executive Chef

Evelyn has served as the Teaching Kitchen Executive Chef since 2023. Prior to joining us as a Teaching Kitchen Chef in 2018, Evelyn’s culinary roles included being a chef at the 21 Club, food stylist for the Food Network, Martha Stewart Living and the Cooking Channel, and as a culinary educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Hudson Valley Farm-to-School Program. In 2023, Evelyn was selected by the James Beard Foundation to join a select group of chefs for the Foundation’s Chef Bootcamp for Policy and Change. In 2019, Evelyn was honored as an NYC Food Policy Center Rising Star-40 under 40. Evelyn is fluent in Spanish and translates all programs and materials for Spanish-speaking participants. A Hudson Valley native, she graduated from the esteemed Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY and also serves on the board of Common Ground Farm.

Brianne Ross, Teaching Kitchen Chef

Brianne joined us as a Teaching Kitchen Chef in 2023. Prior to joining the Neighborhood House, Brianne worked as the Head Culinary Educator at the NYC Department of Health Stellar Farmers Market. Previously, Brianne served as Director of Programming at The Dynamite Shop in Brooklyn, held culinary education positions at Brighter Bites and the Brooklyn YWCA and worked as a Sous Chef at 61 Local in Brooklyn. Brianne has also worked as a Content Quality Editor at Food & Wine and a Recipe Developer and Tester at SimplyRecipes.com. Brianne is a graduate of Michigan State University (BA, Professional Writing).

Recognition and Media

• Closing the Technical Assistance Gap in the Farm to Institution Movement, Farm to Institution New England (2022)

• The Teaching Kitchen at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Community Spotlight, Hunter College New York City Food Policy Center (2022)

• Shifting Focus: 27 Businesses and Organizations Working to Feed New York City, Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center (2020)

• Women Changing the Food System in New York City, Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center (2020)

• Feature of The Teaching Kitchen at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, Spectrum News NY1 (2019)

• Nutrition and Aging: Improving Food Accessibility for NYC’s Seniors, Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center (2019)

• Teaching Kitchen Founding Executive Chef Lynn Loflin 2019 CACFP Changemaker Award, National Child Nutrition Foundation (2019)

• Teaching Kitchen Chef Evelyn Garcia 2019 40 Under 40: The Rising Stars in NYC Food Policy, Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center (2019)

• Learning to Cook at The Teaching Kitchen, Medium (2018)

• Farm to Institution: Designing the Greater Hudson River Valley Foodways, The Field Guide to a Regenerative Economy (2018)

• Conversation with an Emerging Innovator: Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, The New York State Health Foundation (2018)

• Tackling Food Insecurity Among the Aging in New York City, Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center (2017)

• With Food Hub, Premium Produce May Reach More New Yorkers’ Plates, The New York Times (2016)

• Lynn Loflin, Executive Chef, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, New York Nonprofit Media (2016)

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The Teaching Kitchen is free of charge to most nonprofit community-based organizations. For more information, please contact teachingkitchen@lenoxhill.org.