This 4th, Outsiders in the White House Kitchen

This Fourth of July the White House is trying something new — its kitchen, for the first time ever, has invited outsiders to help prepare food for an official event. Ten D.C.-area high schoolers involved in the Brainfood program will pitch in to put together the White House Independence Day picnic.

Brainfood, an organization that uses cooking to teach life skills to teenagers, offers a year-long after school program and an intensive summer institute. Students get hands-on training in the kitchen, learn about the culinary world through lectures and field trips and do community service. The program aims to equip students "with practical cooking skills, an introduction to the food industry, a framework for nutritious eating and leadership experience that prepares them to make a difference in their community."

The organization's participation in the picnic reflects the First Lady's strategy to make students of all ages into "little ambassadors" to raise awareness about healthy eating. A warm up for the event came last week, when nine Brainfood participants worked on strawberry tiramisu and fancy chocolates to add a special finishing touch to the White House luau.

It's not quite as glamorous as it sounds — most of what the Brainfood students do is kitchen grunt work such as shucking corn and chopping potatoes. But nonetheless, they are working shoulder-to-shoulder with the White House chefs, who offer valuable tips, such as how to tell whether corn is fresh, and talk to students about how hard work and perseverance were necessary for them to get where they are today.

Which is, after all, the White House kitchen. Can't argue with that lesson.

Photo courtesy of Jason Tromm (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)