Nutrition and Food
The Instructional Kitchen provides a variety of educational, and nutrition-focused programming for students to cultivate healthy habits. Check them out below.
Programs
Information, dates/times, costs, and registration for each semester’s student wellness programs can be found in the “Program Registration”/”Student Wellness” or “Student Wellness Programs” sections in Active Illini member portal. Refer to the Active Illini informational page for instructions on how to login.
Nutrition Coaching
No matter your goal, our staff will help create an individualized plan to suit your needs. Nutrition coaching includes completing a health questionnaire and conducting a 24 hour food recall to determine “where you are now” and “where you want to be.”
Get Fresh!
Get Fresh! is a cost-effective, six-week seasonal foods program. Participants use their Get Fresh! tote to pick up fresh fruits and vegetables from the Student Sustainable Farm in the ARC instructional kitchen. Recipes and resources prepared by Peer Nutrition Educators from McKinley Health are included!
Instructional Cooking Classes
Try a variety of classes learning how to cook, bake, and enjoy new recipes. All classes include cooking demonstrations with generous tastings of each recipe!
Illini Eats
Leave the meal planning behind and put down the shopping list! Grab a to-go meal kit from the ARC instructional kitchen. These chef curated meals serves two for only $10!
Tasting Thursdays
Tasting Thursdays is a program where you can sample delicious food from the Instructional Kitchen and learn a tip or two about keeping up great wellness habits.
Instructional Kitchen
Our commitment…
Engage the diverse Illinois students and other campus community members in opportunities to learn about, cook, taste and share health-supporting, sustainably-produced food.
Educate about the culinary and other skills needed for planning, preparing, serving, and evaluating healthy meals.
Provide a safe, clean and sustainable space for the campus community to engage in research, service-learning, experiential learning, and personal growth and development.
Utilize culinary education as a part of a strategy to improve food security, employment opportunities, and simultaneously improve health for underserved individuals and the campus community.
(Re) Connect a positive food experience with the growth of local, whole, and more sustainably produced food.
Demonstrate the viability of hands-on experience with healthy food preparation and tasting for improving eating habits and life-long health
CampusWell
Explore wellness resources on CampusWell, an interdepartmental website that provides articles and videos about various topics, including food and nutrition!