Reprise | Denise Albert, Founder of Cooking in Bloom

Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy

Since starting Cooking in Bloom back in 2018, Denise Albert has given thousands of children hands-on cooking experience and nutritional education, imparting life skills contribute to their ongoing health and well-being throughout their lives. Even back in her days working in cardiac rehab, Denise knew that food is a powerful tool for learning. She started a nutrition education program that involved cooking meals with her patients, engaging taste, smell, and touch to great effect. When she and her family moved to Little Rock, she brought her pedagogy with her, founding Cooking in Bloom when she realized school curricula had gaps with regards to nutrition and sustainability. Denise's multi-sensory approach has since been put to use immersing pre-K through 12th-grade students in learning, using cooking to connect to many academic subjects like math, art, science, and history. The pandemic hit Denise's family-oriented business as hard as any, but she rallied and restructured to a mobile model, connecting through Zoom classrooms, allowing her to teach students in their own kitchens! Introducing people to thrilling new foods is the highlight of her job. When not in the classroom (virtual or otherwise), Denise likes to do outdoor activities with her family, such as gardening, biking, and taking their dogs to the park. Denise has an undergraduate degree in dietetics and a master's degree in public health.