小厨师DJ的特色菜? 素食通心粉和奶酪以及健康饮食的教学

他一度引起了众人的注意, 但在向他们展示如何做出美味佳肴之前, 小厨师DJ玩了一个小游戏.

他问:

• 什么蔬菜以字母z开头?

• 果汁和加水果的水哪个更健康?

• 你怎样才能区分水果和蔬菜呢?

在圣. 路易斯儿童博览会，没人能给出三个正确答案.

甚至两个.

The blank stares and wrong guesses underscored the reasons 小迪斯汀·刘易斯. -又名小厨师DJ -在那里.

这不是 just that folks in his community don't know how to cook healthy meals. 许多人甚至不知道健康饮食意味着什么.

DJ的妈妈Tiarra刘易斯非常清楚这一点. She learned the connection between what you eat and how you feel only a few years ago.

这件事发生在护士学校. A lesson about nutrition prompted what she calls "an epiphany" – about her mother's premature death, her own wayward diet and the chance to break that cycle for her children.

Just three years later, her oldest son is spreading the gospel to the masses. 带着他可爱的微笑, 朗朗上口的绰号和纯正的烹饪技巧, 8岁的小厨师DJ正在尽可能地告知和激励每一个人.

11月是 明智饮食月 周三是明智饮食日, 所以现在是分享Tiarra和DJ Lewis故事的最佳时机.

但首先，让我们看看你在他的小测验中表现如何. The answers are: zucchini, water with fruit in it and fruits have seeds.

***

当蒂亚拉在圣. 路易斯，她父母在快餐店工作. So many of her meals came from their jobs that her grandmother dubbed her "the Burger King baby."

她的妈妈后来成为了一名外科技师和旅行护士, 她爸爸在赌场找了份工作, 一步步晋升为主管. 在他们忙碌的生活中，每个人无论何时都吃什么.

The only fruits Tiarra knew were apples, oranges, bananas and strawberries. 她从没见过牛油果，也没吃过菠菜. The closest thing to a cooking lesson was watching her grandfather make bacon and eggs.

“他只是饿了，想吃点东西，”她说.

Similar motivation prompted Tiarra to figure out how to make a few dishes after marrying DeEsten Lewis Sr.

她养成了每周一吃炸鸡和意大利面的习惯, 周二吃玉米饼，周五吃炸鱼. The rest of the week usually included fast food or heat-and-eat items like frozen pizza and ramen noodles.

***

蒂亚拉十几岁时，她的妈妈开始生病. Tiarra took her mom to some doctor's appointments but was told to stay in the waiting room.

So she never grasped how sick her mom was before a heart attack took her life. 蒂亚拉失去母亲时才19岁.

现在跳到27岁. 蒂亚拉上的是护理学校, her busy lifestyle prompting her to snack on bags of sunflower seeds washed down by a giant orange slushy. 她经常给DJ买快餐.

Then the teacher began lecturing about nutrition and everything clicked.

“我不想在DJ 19岁的时候就去世，”她想. "And I don't want anything to happen to him because I'm feeding him junk. 有些事情必须改变."

***

这位老师向全班展示了如何制作酸奶糕.

Tiarra发现它简单、有趣又美味. 天后, 她带了香草酸奶回家, 格兰诺拉麦片, 草莓和一种她从未见过的水果:猕猴桃.

她和DJ一起做的，他喜欢里面的一切, from tasting his creation to the "big boy" feeling of working in the kitchen with mom.

他想做得更多. 好吧，她说，但前提是他遵守他们的新规定.

“你做的每样东西，”她说，“都必须是健康的."

In 2015, DJ made a pineapple upside down cake for his younger cousin's birthday. Tiarra took a nine-second video of DJ showing off his creation while wearing a red chef's hat and matching apron.

太可爱了，她把它发到了脸书上.

***

Someone at a local TV station saw it and invited DJ to appear on a cooking show.

他在圣. 路易儿童博览会紧随其后. Then he became connected with my organization, the 美国心脏协会.

一路走来，他得到了“小厨师DJ”的绰号. 最终，他有了自己的商标. 还有一首主题曲.

"People call him a celebrity, but he doesn't look at it like that,蒂亚拉说.

去年, 他们联系上了基思·塔克, 嘻哈的创始人是格林, an organization that uses music to introduce vegan foods to people in urban communities, 尤其是年轻人.

塔克邀请刘易斯一家去加州, 在那里他们喜欢吃从花园里摘来的蔬菜和柠檬, 酸橙和其他水果悬挂在树上.

“这是你在圣保罗看不到的东西. 路易斯，”蒂亚拉说.

她想:我们应该这么做.

Ever since, Tiarra has been seeking money and land to create a garden in her low-income community. 这是特别需要的，因为这个社区是一个“食物沙漠”,指缺乏新鲜水果和蔬菜的地方.

“我们可以种西红柿、西葫芦、南瓜、茄子，”她说. "We can teach the kids about the foods they are growing and how to cook and eat it. 你可以建议人们吃它们, 但他们必须先接触到它, 他们必须亲眼目睹并品尝."

***

DJ is a typical 8-year-old in the sense that he loves playing Minecraft and running around with his friends. Having outgrown dinosaurs, his new interest is science, especially chemicals and elements.

尽管如此，他的生活还是围绕着厨房.

他和蒂亚拉在网上搜索菜谱，看烹饪节目. 他想吃任何水果和蔬菜. They also love learning about foreign cuisines; they've created all sorts of Mediterranean, 亚洲, 印度和墨西哥的最爱.

他们偶尔还会在周二吃墨西哥卷饼, 直到现在，他们才在鸡肉上放上自制的芒果沙司, 可能还有DJ的招牌鳄梨酱.

意大利面也是人们的最爱，尤其是素食通心粉和奶酪.

"He puts on salt, pepper and paprika with broccoli on the side,蒂亚拉说. “如果由他决定，他会每天都这么做!"

DJ梦想拥有一家餐厅或推出一系列食品. Maybe he could sell "rabbit juice," a drink made from carrots, pineapples and peaches.

Their message about eating healthy is clear: It's easy enough that kids can take the lead.

“有些人认为做饭很难. 这不是!蒂亚拉说. “你可以找到快速简单的方法来制作美味的健康食品. 你只需要尝试新事物."

这个专栏的另一个版本也出现在 发展全球.