The Interfaith Culinary Arts Program is a hands-on, dialogue-based initiative that uses food as a powerful entry point for interfaith learning, cultural exchange, and community-building among youth. Each session combines culinary skill-building with guided discussion, allowing participants to explore religious traditions, shared values, and lived experiences in an engaging and accessible way.

This month’s session centers on chocolate-making as a creative and reflective practice tied to Valentine’s Day and broader themes of love, compassion, generosity, and care across religious and cultural traditions. As participants work together to prepare handmade chocolates, facilitators guide conversations exploring how different faiths understand and express love—whether through acts of service, charity, hospitality, devotion, or community responsibility. Youth are invited to reflect on questions such as how love is practiced in their own traditions, how it shows up in everyday life, and how shared values can bridge differences.

The session intentionally weaves together culinary arts, storytelling, and interfaith dialogue, creating space for collaboration and relationship-building across lines of difference. Participants will create chocolates both to take home and to share with others in need, reinforcing the idea that love is not only something to celebrate, but something to practice through action. Through food, conversation, and creativity, the Interfaith Culinary Arts Program models how everyday experiences can become meaningful opportunities for interfaith harmony and mutual understanding.