Cultured Kids Cuisine – Teaching Kids Culture Through Food
Whether kids are learning about their own cultures or other cultures around the world, one great way to do so is through food and cooking. Not only is it fun for kids, but it is also interactive and engaging.
This is the premise of the non-profit organization, Cultured Kids Cuisine, founded by CEO Mia Kotikovski. Cultured Kids Cuisine aims to teach kids culture through food. The organization provides free resources for children and students around the world to participate in activities designed to teach culture. Activities include online and in-person cooking workshops, educational blog posts, recipes, and lesson kits.
A Conversation with Mia Kotikovski
Bicultural Mama: How did the organization start?
Mia Kotikovski: I, the founder, had been doing freelance cooking services with a friend in hospitals across New York City as a form of educational and recreational activity for the children in the pediatrics departments. Unfortunately, once COVID-19 hit, I was no longer able to volunteer at the hospitals due to safety concerns, yet I still wanted to continue impacting youth in a positive way.
Cooking and learning through food has always been my passion. With an incredible platform like Zoom I wanted to use that to connect and educate children across the globe. In the summer months, I put together a team of directors and volunteers from all over the world. I did so by using social media platforms to advocate our services and volunteer applications. That is how Cultured Kids Cuisine came to be!
Bicultural Mama: Where is your non-profit based?
Mia Kotikovski: All of our programs and services are virtual so that our volunteers can help run them from anywhere in the world.
Bicultural Mama: Cultured Kids Cuisine includes volunteers from high schools and colleges. Are they local or from all over the world? Are they part of a school-based program?
Mia Kotikovski: The high school and college students that help to run the non-profit are not associated with any particular school or school program. Furthermore, they are located all over the world, but mostly concentrated in New York City.
Bicultural Mama: How is the non-profit funded?
Mia Kotikovski: The non-profit and all of our services are funded with the funds that we receive on our GoFundMe page.
Bicultural Mama: How do you decide what kind of classes to run?
Mia Kotikovski: Each month we celebrate a different country. One month we may be celebrating Latin America’s culture and history. The next month we may be having cooking workshops inspired by African classics and the following month European dishes. We try to have cooking workshops inspired by dishes that are foreign to most youth so they can truly learn something new!
Upcoming Events
For a list of upcoming events, check out the Cultured Kids Cuisine classes on Eventbrite. Highlights include Taste of Korea: Hotteok, Taste of the Phillipines: Halo Halo, Taste of Japan: Dorayaki, Taste of China: Glutinous Coconut Balls, and Taste of Malaysia: Kaya Jam and Toast.
Cultured Kids Cuisine will also be offering a FREE Food Anthropology course for children starting on March 21, 2021. The 10-week curriculum was inspired by a college course taken by one of the organization’s volunteers. Cultured Kids Cuisine has restructured and improved it for a younger audience. Food Anthropology is a broad discipline that seeks to better understand the human species in terms of culture, behavior, and biology through food.
The course hopes to get children thinking about the many ways food influences our lives. This includes food traditions around the world, ethical and nutritious eating habits as well as the relationship between food and gender, economics, and power. These events are casual and discussion-based. As such, students will have the chance to interact with the volunteer. They will be able to ask any questions they may have about food anthropology. Sign up for this FREE course by clicking on this Google Docs form.
For more information on Cultured Kids Cuisine, please visit Culturedkidscuisine.wixsite.com/mysite-1.