Dec. 9, 2025, 5:01 a.m. ET
- At Little Chefs, Big Change classes, kids learn to cook healthy, affordable food, and taste test it too.
- Classes are free and operated out of after-school programs, community centers, summer camps and schools.
- Those interested in donating or volunteering can visit LittleChefsBigChange.org.
Healthy food doesn’t have to be expensive: a bunch of kale, a sweet potato or a can of beans each cost less than two dollars at Kroger. But it can be intimidating. Sarah Wharton’s nonprofit starts combatting that factor early by teaching kids how to use affordable, nutritious ingredients to make meals they actually enjoy.
At Little Chefs, Big Change classes, the participants − all in grades 2-8 − surprise you. Kids chop onions and celery with real knives, peel carrots and prep pasta on the stove.
And at the end, they try it all, a task that can be genuinely daunting for the little chefs, some of whom have never tried ingredients like sweet potato and cantaloupe, founder and executive director Wharton said.
“We believe that everybody deserves access to healthy and affordable ingredients in food,” she said. “But we recognize that access alone is not enough. In order to eat healthy food, you need to actually like it, and better yet, know how to prepare it for yourself and your family. And so that is why education and exposure are at the foundation of all of our programs.”
How Little Chefs, Big Change helps kids try new things
The nonprofit, which Wharton started in 2023, holds classes at after-school programs, community centers, schools and summer camps attended by underserved and low-income children.
During each of the six or more free classes in a series, students prepare at least three recipes and a fruit smoothie. With that many options, plus the fact that the kids make the food themselves and the “very low-pressure environment” where choices aren’t stigmatized or made fun of, Wharton said kids feel more confident to try new things.
“Don’t yuck someone else’s yum,” lead cooking instructor Tina Hawrys reminded the group at the start of class on Nov. 18. That day, the kids, assisted by a group of volunteers, were making bruschetta, pasta fazool, Tuscan-style beans and grilled flatbread.
One student, 9-year-old Xander Coyne, wasn’t sure if he’d like the flatbread because it had garlic in it but decided to try it anyway at the end of class, when the completed dishes are served family-style. “In the past I did call myself a picky eater, and my dad did, and now that I’m doing cooking class, I feel like that we’re not going to have so much trouble doing picky eating,” he said.
That’s the hope Wharton has for all the little chefs, and she hopes it lasts them a lifetime.
“The goal is for one day when the kids grow up when they walk into a grocery store and they see broccoli, they see sweet potatoes or kale or carrots, they think, ‘Oh, I know that’s good for my body and I know how to make it taste good,'” Wharton said.
Little Chefs, Big Change operates in Knox County and Campbell County, and Wharton hopes to continue to grow the nonprofit.
To volunteer or donate, visit LittleChefsBigChange.org.
You can also sign up online to be notified when new family cooking classes open. Proceeds from these classes will support the free class series described in this story.
Hayden Dunbar is the storyteller reporter. Email: hayden.dunbar@knoxnews.com. Instagram: @knoxstoryteller.
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