Frequently Asked Questions

All Brainfood programs are free of charge to students who live or go to school in DC. Students do not receive a stipend or pay to attend Brainfood programs, but students may receive community service hours for participation.

Brainfood currently runs four programs: Brainfood Kitchen All Stars, Brainfood Community MVPs, Brainfood Summer Institute, and Brainfood Box Project. 

Brainood Kitchen All Stars, which meets Monday through Thursday afternoons during the school year, introduces participants to learning life skills and leadership skills through food and cooking.

Brainfood Community MVPs, which meets Tuesday and Thursday afternoons  during the school year, gives Brainfood graduates the opportunity to use their leadership skills to plan, facilitate, and deliver healthy cooking workshops to the DC community.

Brainfood Summer Institute, a five-week program that meets Monday through Thursday afternoons during the summer, uses experiential learning activities such as kitchen labs and field trips to help students build valuable life skills. .

Brainfood Box Project, which meets Monday through Friday afternoons, is a seven-week summer opportunity for Brainfood graduates to showcase their cooking and leadership skills by running a seasonal summer CSA operation.

Founded in 1999, Brainfood is a community-based youth development organization that uses food as a tool to build life skills with DC youth in a fun and creative setting. Through culinary-related activities we strive to expand cognitive skills, encourage creativity, foster self-reliance and empower youth as resources in their own community. After over 13 years of operation, we are now running programs in three DC facilities (Columbia Heights, Chinatown, and Mt. Vernon Square), with expected additional expansion. Read more about Brainfood History here!