Frequently Asked Questions


Do students have to pay to enroll in Brainfood Programs? Are students paid to attend Brainfood?

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.

What programs does Brainfood offer?

Brainfood currently runs three programs during the year - Brainfood Kitchen All Stars, Brainfood Community MVPs and Brainfood Summer Institute.

From September to May, Brainfood Kitchen All Stars meets Monday through Thursday afternoons. Participants, recruited from area high schools, participate in Brainfood Kitchen All Stars, which uses experiential learning activities such as kitchen labs and field trips to help students build valuable life skills.

From September to May, Brainfood Community meets Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Brainfood graduates use their leadership skills to plan, facilitate, and deliver healthy cooking workshops to the DC community.

From June to August, Brainfood runs a  five week program for high school students, which uses experiential learning activities such as kitchen labs and field trips to help students build valuable life skills. Brainfood Summer Institute meets Monday through Thursday  in the afternoon.

How did Brainfood get started?

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 12 years of operation, we are now running programs in two DC facilities (Columbia Heights and Chinatown), with expected additional expansion.