We all share a passion for helping children realize their full potential.

Giving kids the knowledge and tools to grow and become their best selves is our true purpose. That’s why we created a signature program that allows us to make a direct, lasting impact on the lives of young people. Emeril’s Culinary Garden and Teaching Kitchen reflects our mission to inspire, mentor and enable youth while broadening our reach nationally.

Alden and I wanted to reach and impact kids in a positive manner, and we knew the best way to do that was through food.

Emeril Lagasse

By integrating gardening and cooking concepts in school curriculums, we offer an engaging experience that connects kids to the world of food and nurtures skills that benefit them not only in the kitchen but also throughout life. Through a growing network of like-minded schools, Emeril’s Culinary Garden and Teaching Kitchen enriches the lives of kids through a fun, fresh perspective on food.

The Four Pillars

Appreciation for the source of food

To instill in children a respect for and understanding of the source of their food.
Development of Life skills through food

To develop life skills, confidence and a sense of respect in children through the rigors of growing and preparing food.
Nutrition Education

To impart the values of healthy eating in children, who in turn can influence their families and community to adopt healthy lifestyles.
Development of Culinary Skills

To teach culinary skills to children to enable them to cook for themselves, enriching their self-reliance skills.

How to Apply

Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen is a nationwide education initiative created to enrich the lives of elementary and middle school children through a fun, fresh perspective on food. The program integrates gardens and teaching kitchens in schools as interactive learning environments and provides children an opportunity to make meaningful connections between their core subjects and the world of food.

The Emeril Lagasse Foundation provides multi-year or curriculum only grants for eligible non-profits seeking to integrate K-8 seed-to table education at their school via Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen.

Learn More

Academy for Global Citizenship

Chicago, IL

The Academy for Global Citizenship (AGC) is a K-8 Chicago Public Charter School located on the underserved Southwest side of Chicago. Founded in 2005, AGC is addressing Chicago’s educational, environmental, and racial healthcare inequities where it serves 96% minority constituents. With the goal of providing opportunity for children and families in the most under-resourced neighborhoods, AGC utilizes an innovative, whole-child learning model rooted in social justice, environmental education, entrepreneurship, and dual language wellness opportunities. Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen at AGC will be housed at the school’s new net-positive energy campus alongside a health care center, urban farm, community wellness hub and early childhood center.

Baltimore Montessori Public Charter School

Baltimore, MD

Baltimore Montessori Public Charter School is a mission-driven school in Baltimore City’s historic community of Greenmount West. Opening its doors in 2008, Baltimore Montessori is the city’s first public Montessori school. Today, the school is home to 600 students in prekindergarten through 8th grade. A whole child, hands-on approach supports students to develop the habits and mindsets necessary for success in school and life. Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen will enhance Baltimore Montessori’s preexisting Seed to Table program by integrating garden and kitchen lessons into the school-wide curriculum to reach every student. Key partners like the Emeril Lagasse Foundation help Baltimore Montessori to meet the needs of its growing community and ensure students have meaningful opportunities to develop their capacity for peace and prepare for global citizenship.

Belle Chasse Academy

Belle Chasse, LA

Belle Chasse Academy (BCA) is a pre-K through eighth grade public charter school serving over 900 military dependent children from the five parishes of Greater New Orleans.

Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen at BCA will allow the school to expand its current gardening program, renovate the existing culinary classroom, complete its hydroponic lettuce system, develop the school’s vegetable production garden, and build an outdoor culinary learning center that will serve as the heart of the school’s infrastructure.

Cunningham Elementary School

Austin, TX

Cunningham Elementary School is a pre-K through fifth grade public charter school within Austin Independent School District serving over 400 students with diverse backgrounds.

Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen at Cunningham Elementary will allow the school to enhance its current gardening program and renovate one of the school’s existing classrooms into a 1,500-square-foot teaching kitchen. In this space, students’ imaginations and minds will be activated when they interact with the food they have grown using the program’s curriculum which features more than 100 of Chef Emeril’s recipes modified for the classroom

DC Bilingual Public Charter School

Washington DC

DC Bilingual Public Charter School offers an innovative, dual immersion, Spanish and English learning program for all students, regardless of their home language. Through its rigorous academic curriculum; comprehensive arts, food and wellness, and family engagement programs; and celebration of diverse cultures, DC Bilingual students learn the skills and values they need to become influential members of their community.

As ranked by the DC Public Charter School Board (DC PCSB), DC Bilingual is a Tier 1 school serving 453 pre-K through grade 5 students. At the core of DC Bilingual ’s school culture is an emphasis on the value of learning within a diverse community.

Dr. John Ochsner Discovery Health Sciences Academy

New Orleans, LA

Dr. John Ochsner Discovery Health Sciences Academy (DJOD) is a pre-K through eighth grade public charter school serving Jefferson Parish in Greater New Orleans. DJOD provides students with a high-quality education that empowers students to make healthy and sustainable choices for themselves and their environment. Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen at DJOD will expand on its program to provide hands-on learning in a newly constructed teaching kitchen and outdoor culinary classroom and vegetable garden. Students will enjoy experiential learning through the program’s culinary curriculum and maintaining a vegetable garden.

Starlight Elementary School

Watsonville, CA

Starlight Elementary School serves 600 students in a late-exit bilingual model from Transitional Kindergarten to 5th grade in Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD). Agriculture and related industries comprise the heart of our local economy with globally renowned companies such as Martinelli’s, Driscoll’s and Lakeside Organic Gardens calling Watsonville home. In fact, many of our students are the children of farmworkers who grow, harvest and package the food that feeds our region, the nation and the world. Honoring the work of our families and community through Emeril’s Culinary Garden and Teaching Kitchen (CGTK) will be transformative for all involved as we expand the well-established garden and cooking education program at Starlight.