POTOMAC, Md. (WUSA) -- Children attending one local summer camp are learning to cook healthy meals using local foods. It's all part of an effort to make these kids have the knowledge necessary to fight childhood obesity.
At the summer camp at Saint Andrews Episcopal School in Potomac, participants worked with a snakehead -- the infamous "not so pretty" invasive Asian snakehead fish that is eating up our local fish supply. Four brave children got to judge for themselves whether snakehead fish are delicious as part of the "Fitbound Cooking School."
"It would be so much more difficult to deal with invasion if fish didn't taste delicious," said Steve Vilnit with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
The cooking school is the brain child of locally acclaimed chef Allison Sosna, whose passion is teaching kids healthy cooking habits.
"Because of the issues with obesity in our Country, 1 in 3 kids are overweight, " she explained.
When we caught up with the cooking school the day's challenge was the snakehead. "Once you get them excited about something run with it and get into it. It's about daring kids to try something new," said the chef.
A slice, wash and a dash of spice was followed by 10 minutes of cooking and some garnish.While sophia was not a fan, Maria, Indra and Hanna were converts -even the chef was impressed. "That is good," she exclaimed hi-fiving Hannah after trying her curried snakehead.
The chef and the creators of Fitbound are inspiring children. "I can cook more and help with my mom a lot," said 11-year-old Hannah Freeman.
Eleven-year-old Indra Perriwal said, "Whenever I do something fun while I'm learning I'll always remember it."
Fitbound's sports and healthy living camp has been operating for nearly four years, but the cooking school is a brand new component. The chef is hoping to add another session in Alexandria in August. To learn more or sign up, click here: Fitbound.com.