The Cookbook Project

What The Cookbook Project does

The Cookbook Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2010 and headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, that operates a food literacy education platform. The organization trains individuals as certified Food Literacy Educators (FLEDs) and equips them with age-appropriate curricula to teach youth (K-2 through grade 12) about cooking, nutrition, food culture, food waste, food geography, and food justice. The platform is built on a web-based learning management system that delivers narrated slideshows, video lessons, quizzes, short assignments, and downloadable curriculum PDFs, complemented by a built-in social network that connects certified educators by geography and interest for peer support and regional meetups.

The organization monetizes through a combination of direct course sales and donations. The required Food Literacy Educator Training is priced at $175, with four age-specific add-on curricula (Early Childhood, Elementary, Middle School, Young Adults) at $75 each, and a complete bundle at $450. Group training is available for organizations on inquiry, scholarships are offered for applicants with financial need, and the organization is registered as a 501(c)(3) with a GuideStar Gold rating, enabling tax-deductible donations and grant funding. The go-to-market model is community-led: individual educators enroll, complete self-paced online training, and then implement curricula in their own schools, after-school programs, community centers, summer camps, and international settings, often through partnerships with organizations such as City Year, Peace Corps, Revolution Foods, and Convivium Urban Farmstead.

The organization operates with a small staff of 1-10 employees, is led by Executive Director Robert Palestina with co-founders Alissa Bilfield and Adam Aronovitz, and serves a global network of Food Literacy Educators across the United States (New Orleans, Boston, Dubuque) and internationally (Barranquilla, Colombia). Revenue is highly subsidized by donors and scholarship programs, and the operating model is closer to a mission-driven social enterprise than a venture-scale technology business.

Name

The Cookbook Project

Legal name

The Cookbook Project

Website

https://thecookbookproject.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Cookbook Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating an online training and curriculum platform that certifies Food Literacy Educators and equips them with age-appropriate K-12 cooking and nutrition curricula, distributed via a community-led model across the US and internationally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Literacy Education / Nutrition Curriculum Training

NAICS

Other Technical and Trade Schools (611519), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Nutrition & Diet Education (Meal Planning, Macros, Healthy Cooking) (EDAAAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Culinary Arts & Cooking (Baking, Pastry, Global Cuisines) (EDAAAGAG), Professional Culinary Arts (Chef Training) (EDAOAKAA)

Keywords

• Food literacy education
• Nutrition curriculum programs
• Educator certification training
• Youth cooking education
• Community nutrition training

Headquarters

HQ city

New Orleans

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Course Enrollment Fees: Individual course enrollments sold directly through the website. Food Literacy Educator Training is required at $175, with additional age-specific curriculum add-on courses at $75 each.
2. Bundle Sales: All courses bundle offered at $450, providing access to all four youth curriculum programs plus the required FLED training.
3. Group Training: Organization group training rates available for training multiple Food Literacy Educators. Contact email provided for group pricing inquiries.
4. Donations: 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization accepting tax-deductible donations. Monthly and one-time donation options available.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Cookbook Project delivers an online Food Literacy Educator (FLED) certification training and four age-specific curriculum programs (Food Waste Warriors for K-2, Food Culture Chefs for grades 3-5, Food Geography for grades 6-8, and Food for All for grades 9-12) that train individuals and partner organizations to teach youth cooking, nutrition, food culture, sustainability, food policy, and food justice through experiential learning. The training and curricula are sold individually or as a bundle and are accessible worldwide via the organization's learning management system.

Product overview

The Cookbook Project offers a training and curriculum platform for food literacy education. The core product is the Food Literacy Educator Training (required, $175), which certifies individuals to become Food Literacy Educators. This is paired with four age-specific curriculum add-on courses priced at $75 each: Food for All (high school/young adults, grades 9-12), Food Geography (middle school, grades 6-8), Food Culture Chefs (elementary school, grades 3-5), and Food Waste Warriors (early childhood, grades K-2). An All Courses bundle is available for $450. The platform is built on a learning management system with online video modules, downloadable curriculum PDFs, quizzes, assignments, and a social network component for trainee engagement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Food Literacy Educator Training Online certification course that trains individuals (teachers, counselors, health providers, community leaders, chefs, students) to become Food Literacy Educators (FLEDs) and deliver food literacy programming in their communities. Includes 9-11 narrated slideshows, videos, quizzes, and short assignments covering food literacy, sustainable eating, program planning, logistics, and evaluation.
• Food Waste Warriors - Early Childhood Age-specific curriculum for grades K-2 (ages 5-8) covering basic nutrition, food tasting, diet diversity, and food waste reduction through color-based learning. Includes 15-16 sessions with program-specific curriculum guides.
• Food Culture Chefs - Elementary School
• Food Geography - Middle School Age-specific curriculum for grades 6-8 (ages 12-14) covering food through local and global perspectives, food origins, seasonality, and intermediate cooking skills. Includes a 14-session curriculum plus 1-3 enrichment sessions.
• Food for All - Young Adults Age-specific curriculum for grades 9-12 (ages 14-18) covering food justice, food policy, sustainability, and advanced cooking skills, including a 14-session curriculum with multimedia food studies projects.
• All Courses Bundle Bundle package containing the required Food Literacy Educator Training and all four age-specific youth curricula (Food Waste Warriors, Food Culture Chefs, Food Geography, and Food for All) sold at a discounted price.
• Organizational Group Training Group training service for organizations that want to certify multiple Food Literacy Educators at once. Custom pricing is available by direct email inquiry and enables organizations to roll out the curricula across multiple staff and sites.

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Revolution FoodsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Revolution Foods for ReNEW Schaumburg 2nd Grade Program in New Orleans, LA. Revolution Foods provides healthy school meals and collaborated with CBP on nutrition education programming.
• City YearcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partnership with City Year in Boston, MA. City Year AmeriCorps members serve as Food Literacy Educators implementing CBP programming in schools. Testimonials from City Year staff highlight the program's pre-written lesson plans and comprehensive support.
• Peace CorpsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Peace Corps for program implementation in Barranquilla, Colombia. Peace Corps volunteers trained as Food Literacy Educators to lead CBP programs internationally.
• Convivium Urban FarmsteadminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Convivium Urban Farmstead in Dubuque, IA for program implementation, connecting CBP food literacy education with local farm-to-table initiatives.
• Friends of Lafitte GreenwayminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Friends of Lafitte Greenway in New Orleans for Yoga Summer Series, demonstrating CBP's community-building approach through food and wellness programming.
• Encore Academy at Crescent City Farmers MarketminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Encore Academy and Crescent City Farmers Market in New Orleans for youth food literacy programming connecting local food culture with nutrition education.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Sylvia Center: The Sylvia Center teaches kids and teens cooking skills and healthy eating, sharing CBP's experiential food literacy model for youth audiences.
• Cooking Matters (Share Our Strength): Cooking Matters runs hands-on courses teaching families and kids about healthy eating and cooking, directly competing with CBP in the food literacy/nutrition education space for low-income communities.
• FoodCorps: FoodCorps places service members in schools to teach kids about food and nutrition; it shares CBP's community-led GTM via trained educators, though FoodCorps operates at significantly larger scale.
• Wellness in the Schools: Wellness in the Schools partners with public schools to provide nutrition and fitness education and scratch-cooked meals, overlapping with CBP's health and food literacy work in school settings.
• Edible Schoolyard Project: Founded by Alice Waters, Edible Schoolyard supports garden and kitchen classrooms in schools, sharing CBP's mission of integrating food education into K-12 learning environments.
• Common Threads: Common Threads is a national nonprofit that provides hands-on cooking and nutrition education to kids, parents, and teachers, directly overlapping CBP's food literacy educator training and youth curriculum model.
• Chef Ann Foundation: Chef Ann Foundation focuses on school food reform through scratch-cooking and nutrition education programs, comparable to CBP in targeting K-12 food systems change.

Emerging players

• Wholesome Wave: Wholesome Wave addresses food access and nutrition equity through produce-prescription and community programs; it is comparable thematically but focuses more on affordability than curriculum delivery.

Broad incumbents

• Newman's Own Foundation: Newman's Own Foundation funds nutrition and food security programs, including youth-focused food education, operating as a broader-incumbent philanthropic funder in adjacent space.
• Jamie Oliver Food Foundation: Jamie Oliver's foundation runs global food education campaigns and school cooking programs, representing a much larger brand-driven incumbent in the food literacy space.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cookbookprj

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Cookbook Project