Welcome to the Kitchen

Huntington's Kitchen is a community food center, where people come to learn, cook and experience everything that well-prepared food and healthy living have to offer. The facility boasts a fully equipped kitchen that accommodates up to 16 cooking students.

Our mission at Huntington's Kitchen is simple. We're here to help prevent and reduce diet-related disease through education about healthy food and healthy cooking. Our goal is to share information with everyone, regardless of cooking experience. Our schedule typically features activities related to:

• cooking basics
• recipes and ingredients
• nutrition basics
• using local and seasonal food
• shopping on a budget

We also host special activities for more experienced cooks and diners.

At times, Huntington's Kitchen serves as a community health center, offering free health screenings for early detection of certain diseases. We actively promote the importance of healthy behaviors to improve quality of life. Please remember that this is HUNTINGTON'S Kitchen, and your questions, ideas and suggestions are welcome. Please contact us to share them.

History

Located in Huntington, West Virginia, Huntington's Kitchen was originally established as "Jamie's Kitchen" during the television production of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, Season 1. The kitchen came to life as a warm and welcoming environment, where people from the community could gather to learn to cook with fresh, wholesome ingredients.

When filming wrapped, Ebenezer Medical Outreach, a local non-profit healthcare provider, stepped in to oversee operations of the kitchen, which was supported financially by Cabell Huntington Hospital. Ebenezer Medical Outreach managed Huntington's Kitchen for three years, and with financial support from the hospital totaling more than a quarter of a million dollars over those years, the Kitchen was able to provide hundreds of cooking classes to more than one thousand local residents.

On Aug. 1, 2013, Cabell Huntington Hospital assumed full management and oversight of Huntington's Kitchen, and began to offer a wide array of cooking classes, demonstrations and events designed to measurably improve the health and wellness of the community.

January 2016 marked a new beginning for Huntington's Kitchen when the  Marshall University Department of Dietetics moved their classroom and offices just above Huntington's Kitchen to advance their shared mission of improving  the quality of life for residents of Huntington and surrounding Tri-State area through healthy eating and education.

Manager of Huntington's Kitchen Chef Marty Emerson said the partnership has provided an opportunity for more community members to take control of their health and well-being.

"Through a variety of classes offered to the public and educational opportunities for Marshall University Dietetics students, we are continually producing healthy outcomes throughout the region. Our partnership has strengthened our mission and given us more resources to meet the health needs of our community through cooking classes, demonstrations and health education."

Emerson said the Kitchen has served more than 10,000 people through onsite education, outreach, community events and partnerships since October 2014, and he anticipates those numbers increasing as Huntington's Kitchen continues to expand and integrate throughout the region.