Island Food Skills Initiative hopes to expand cooking classes with $10K grant

A food program that helps teach teens how to cook has been given a $10,000boost from Maple Leaf Foods.

The Island Food Skills Initiative is one of 10projects across Canada that have received a Feed It Forward grant, which gives moneyto community-based programs helping tackle food insecurity.

Chef and program director Chris Sallie started the eight-week, free junior sous-chef workshops last year in Charlottetown.After 10 years in the industry, he decided to pass along some of his skills to young people and help them connect with local food.

The program, which was nominated for the grant by P.E.I. Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker,expanded this year thanks tochef Stephanie Lutz at the Summerside youth centre Gen XX.

• Island Food Skills Initiative to become 'truly Island initiative'

Hopes whole Island benefits

Salliehopes this money will allow him to expand the program even farther.

"We're looking to reach out to the eastern part of the Island, to the western part of the Island so really trying to ensure that everybody on the Island gets the benefit, because there's no point just working within one centralized community on an issue that impacts the big community as a whole."

Sallie says the next round of free workshops in Charlottetown and Summerside should be announced soon.