Pay Dirt

Chef Emeril Lagasse can get any kid to eat

- BY STEPHANIE BURNETTE

You might think you know renowned celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse—BAM—but what you might not know is that Lagasse is at home in the garden as much as he is in a kitchen.

Ten years ago, the chef best known for his big personality on television quietly initiated a project that had nothing to do with ratings. He began Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen in 2016, and it quickly became the signature program of his foundation. To date, The Emeril Lagasse Foundation has invested more than $22 million in youth programs, but building gardens and kitchens became a personal passion. Lagasse wants kids to experience the genesis of food and believes the school day is a great time to capture their palates.

“I used to visit schools. They had concrete yards, and I'd go in the cafeteria and kids had no clue where food came from,” he says. “It didn’t seem like an important part of life, and that didn’t seem right to me.”