Central Kitchen Expansion Project Working with diverse partners to create tangible shifts in the local food system so that healthy food is accessible to children and communities. About the Central Kitchen Food Project How It All Started In 2019, Project Healthy Kids began working with KEYS 4 HealthyKids, the Benedum Foundation, and Healthy Kids Inc. to launch the Central Kitchen Food Project. This initiative aimed to prepare from-scratch, nutrient-dense meals using locally grown foods for childcare centers in West Virginia. The project was born from the desires of West Virginia childcare centers to relieve the burden and overwhelm they faced in providing healthier meals to children. The Central Kitchen project was created with input and collaboration from a statewide steering committee consisting of childcare center directors, statewide nonprofit leaders, local funders, and the West Virginia Department of Education/Office of Child Nutrition. In 2021, Healthy Kids Inc. began implementing WV’s first Central Kitchen Food Project, preparing from-scratch, nutrient-dense, locally sourced meals for children and communities out of a newly constructed commercial incubator kitchen in Morgantown, WV, created by the Monongalia County Commission.  Project Healthy Kids subsequently began providing technical support and workforce development to grow and scale the project. Central Kitchen Expansion Today, Project Healthy Kids is transforming West Virginia's food system through its Central Kitchen Expansion initiative. Funded by the Benedum Foundation in 2023, this project collaborates with local farmers, commercial kitchens, and Healthy Kids Inc. to develop a sustainable food preservation model. We're focused on infrastructural growth, creating a replicable model for Appalachia to enhance access to fresh, nutritious food. Expanding Our Reach In 2024, with support from the Pallottine Foundation of Huntington and the Milan Puskar Foundation, we’re broadening our impact. Our new Central Kitchen in Huntington, WV, strengthens the local food network. Through the WV Food Systems Expansion Project, in partnership with the WV Food & Farm Coalition, we’re supporting and preparing over 1 million fresh meals for distribution across 16 West Virginia counties. Project Healthy Kids remains committed to fostering a sustainable, accessible food system. Want to see a day in the life of the Central Kitchen Food Project?  Check out the video below. https://www.projecthealthykids.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Central-Kitchen-Benedum-long-version.mp4 Join our mission to create a healthier generation of children and communities. Your name Please enter your name. Your email Please enter a valid email. Your message Please enter a message. Send Message Sent! Message failed. Please try again. Testimonial We love the Central Kitchen food project! Helen Post-Brown Director, Sunbeam Early Learning Center Fairmont, WV

Central Kitchen Expansion Project

Working with diverse partners to create tangible shifts in the local food system so that healthy food is accessible to children and communities.

About the Central Kitchen Food Project

How It All Started

In 2019, Project Healthy Kids began working with KEYS 4 HealthyKids, the Benedum Foundation, and Healthy Kids Inc. to launch the Central Kitchen Food Project. This initiative aimed to prepare from-scratch, nutrient-dense meals using locally grown foods for childcare centers in West Virginia. The project was born from the desires of West Virginia childcare centers to relieve the burden and overwhelm they faced in providing healthier meals to children.

The Central Kitchen project was created with input and collaboration from a statewide steering committee consisting of childcare center directors, statewide nonprofit leaders, local funders, and the West Virginia Department of Education/Office of Child Nutrition. In 2021, Healthy Kids Inc. began implementing WV’s first Central Kitchen Food Project, preparing from-scratch, nutrient-dense, locally sourced meals for children and communities out of a newly constructed commercial incubator kitchen in Morgantown, WV, created by the Monongalia County Commission.  Project Healthy Kids subsequently began providing technical support and workforce development to grow and scale the project.

Central Kitchen Expansion

Today, Project Healthy Kids is transforming West Virginia's food system through its Central Kitchen Expansion initiative. Funded by the Benedum Foundation in 2023, this project collaborates with local farmers, commercial kitchens, and Healthy Kids Inc. to develop a sustainable food preservation model. We're focused on infrastructural growth, creating a replicable model for Appalachia to enhance access to fresh, nutritious food.

Expanding Our Reach

In 2024, with support from the Pallottine Foundation of Huntington and the Milan Puskar Foundation, we’re broadening our impact. Our new Central Kitchen in Huntington, WV, strengthens the local food network. Through the WV Food Systems Expansion Project, in partnership with the WV Food & Farm Coalition, we’re supporting and preparing over 1 million fresh meals for distribution across 16 West Virginia counties. Project Healthy Kids remains committed to fostering a sustainable, accessible food system.

Want to see a day in the life of the Central Kitchen Food Project?  Check out the video below.

Join our mission to create a healthier generation of children and communities.

Please enter your name.
Please enter a message.
Send

Testimonial

Helen Brown

We love the Central Kitchen food project!

Helen Post-Brown

Director, Sunbeam Early Learning Center

Fairmont, WV

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