Ashleigh Parsons

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6 Ways to Get Kids to Eat Healthy, and Like It

The founders of L.A.’s sought-after Alma restaurant developed a popular after-school program that teaches kids about nutrition, from garden to table.

In 2013, we introduced GOOD readers to Ashleigh Parsons, the co-owner of a hip new Los Angeles restaurant who was also in charge of the establishment’s community outreach program . The eatery, Alma, went on to be named Bon Appetit ’s best new restaurant that year. The outreach initiative , an after-school and weekend wellness program for Los Angeles public school students, has also been a success. Several times a month, Parsons and company teach kids, many of whom live and attend school in areas that lack access to nutritious food, about cultivating produce and cooking healthy meals. Though Parsons has a master’s degree in education, her most valuable lessons have come from interacting with her students in two high schools and one K-8 charter school in Los Angeles’ underserved Rampart neighborhood. Here are six tips she’s learned about how to get kids of any age interested in healthy food.