creative
cooking
A nonprofit magazine takes on childhood obesity by inspiring kids to cook One carrot at a time member profile
ALL PHO TOS: CARL TREMBLAY
ChopChop founder
Sally Sampson hopes
the magazine will
empower kids to
participate in the
kitchen with their
families.
Name: ChopChop
Founder and president:
Sally Sampson
Address:
32B Calvin Road,
Watertown, MA 02472
Phone: (617) 924-3993
Website:
www.chopchopmag.org
Subscription information:
ChopChop is published four
times a year. Subscriptions
cost $14.95, and for every
one that’s sold the company
donates a copy to a family or
community in need.
Comments about Costco:
“Preparing for a photo shoot
is like cooking for a large
family. We shop at Costco for
our vegetables, fruit, canned
tomatoes, nuts and other
things we need to buy in
quantity. In our office, the
stainless-steel racks that
hold our equipment and the
mugs we use for tea come
from Costco. I’ve been a
member for 20 years, as
have many of my board
members.”—Sally Sampson
48 ;e Costco Connection AUGUST 2012
By Georgia Orcutt
IF YOU LIVE with kids, this summer you may
have helped them learn to ride a bike, swim, catch
fish or read.
Did you teach them to cook? Cookbook author,
public health advocate and mother Sally Sampson
hopes you did.
She’s on a mission to address childhood obesity
by inspiring kids of all shapes, sizes and backgrounds to get into the kitchen, prepare and eat their
own food, and have fun doing it. She serves up this
passion through the pages of her kid-friendly food
magazine, ChopChop, which is published quarterly.
This venture connects two key elements in
Sampson’s background. When her infant daughter
was diagnosed with a chronic illness, she found
herself immersed in the world of healthcare, pediatricians and hospitals, and also looking for ways to
serve food containing less fat. And, as an accom-
plished cook and recipe developer, she has long
believed that teaching kids to cook from scratch
can make a big impact in their lives.
ChopChop, a nonprofit based in Watertown,
Massachusetts, is her forward-thinking answer to
doing something more meaningful than writing
another cookbook.
Sampson is convinced that stocking the house
with nutritious food and teaching kids to prepare it
is the most important thing parents can do in
response to the dire projection from the recently
issued Weight of the Nation report that, by 2030,
42 percent of Americans will be obese.
She points out that cooking at home keeps families from subsisting on junk food and fast food.
“You can fill your pantry for the same amount of
money you spend on fast-food meals, and make
dinner in less time than it takes to go out,” she says.
