The children resumed stirring the orange batter for their pumpkin-spice muffins, more thankful to have used nutrition knowledge to help a fellow cook avoid disaster.

At the Nutrition Center in Great Barrington, a group of 10 children were participating in the After-School Cooking Program, which is run by Community Health Programs.

For two hours every Wednesday, the group huddles in the center's Kids' Kitchen to learn fun ways to incorporate lessons about the food pyramid, reading labels and measuring ingredients.

The aim of the program is to teach kids healthy at-home recipes to cook with their parents, which is one of the many programs in the county dedicated to improving nutrition in the family.

Peter Stanton said, CHP's director of nutrition services, who opened the Nutrition Center in May, "Kids are going to have a better relationship with food if they have a hand in the preparation." 

"Programs like these allow them to get their hands in and provide lessons that they can bring back to their family. Kids drive food purchases more than we often admit, and maybe by introducing different foods in this environment, they'll be open to new things at home and in the store."