Well, finally tonight, we take a look at another program that gets young people out of their comfort zones.

As a parent, we all know getting kids to eat healthy isn't easy, but having them make their own food, well, that's even tougher, but that's exactly what chef Gillian Howard does, from planting seeds to stirring pots.

"Carolina Impact's" Chris Clark uncovers how she inspires kids to grow their own ingredients, explore new flavors, and find confidence that extends beyond the kitchen.

(dramatic whooshing) (food sizzling) - [Gillian] Let's take this and your chickpeas over to the blender.

- [Chris] In this kitchen, the ingredients are simple.

- My favorite thing to do with Chef Gillian is making different things.

- [Chris] A little flour, a few vegetables... - My favorite thing to make is called... (indistinct) It's with sausages and eggs, and with some tortillas.

- [Chris] What these kids are really cooking up is confidence, connection, and the kind of skills that feed more than just hunger, because for many of them, learning to cook isn't just fun.

- I think it is a life skill, I think it's informational, I think it's easy in terms of how she's teaching the youth, she's making it fun for them.

- You guys use honey at your house, or sugar, or agave, or what?

- [Chris] The joy in the kitchen is the vision of chef Gillian Howard, the creator and driving force behind Junior Cultured Chefs, where kids learn to cook, connect, and care for themselves.

- To see the pride that they have, knowing that they created something, and then, don't let it taste good, and then, when their parents come, and these are the same parents who says that their babies only eat chicken tenders and french fries, and when they've seen that they've done something as crazy as, you know, banana sushi, they can't even believe that their kid has it in them.

- [Chris] Chef Howard's love for cooking was born in her grandmother's kitchen, where summer days were filled with warmth, laughter, and the unforgettable smell of something delicious on the stove.

- It would smell like grits and eggs, and maybe fried green tomatoes and some biscuits, and I could hear maybe her feet sliding across the floor.

All we had to do as kids was set the table, right?

And that was a place to get, you know, three square meals, and it wasn't until growing up and going to different places, and realizing that that's not every child's story.

- She joined the Air Force, traveling to Japan, Korea, Thailand and England, but was nowhere near a kitchen.

Instead... - I build the avionic systems for F15s and U-2s, so I'm talking grueling 14-hour days on the flight line, turning wrenches under, you know, running jets, it was insane.

- [Chris] Far from home, Chef Howard never lost her love of cooking.

In country after country, she paid close attention to how people prepared their meals, soaking up new flavors, new techniques, and the universal language of food.

- Food was something that came to bring us together, and now, we're breaking bread with people that we would maybe not have otherwise, and so, that's when I realized... (indistinct) Cooking was my superpower.

- [Chris] After 10-and-a-half years in the Air Force, Gillian traded in her uniform for a chef's coat, enrolling at Johnson & Wales to turn her lifelong love of cooking into a career, but she gained more than just technique.

Culinary school opened her eyes to something much deeper, the inequalities woven into the food system itself, including her own community.

- I live in a food desert, I live in food-insecure spaces, and so, that helped me to kind of garnish the type of chef I wanted to be.

- [Chris] Chef Gillian spent years working in restaurants and as a personal chef, feeding clients, crafting menus, perfecting her skills, but her true purpose didn't come into focus until she found herself at a local farmer's market doing simple cooking demos.

That's where something shifted.

It wasn't just about food anymore, it was about who kept showing up.

- As I was doing these things and teaching adults how to eat, you know, well, the babies kept coming, the young people kept coming.

- [Chris] So she launched Junior Cultured Chefs.

It's a hands-on program where kids learn to cook with real ingredients and real purpose.

With ages ranging from seven all the way to 17, it's not about fancy recipes, but empowerment, giving kids the skills to feed themselves and the confidence to feed change.

- It's pretty fun because most of are, like, cooking at home, and I cook a lot of meals for me and my family.

- To be able to teach the babies how to support themselves, their brothers, you know, if they can even help you to make eggs in the morning just so you can help your mom get out the door for school, then we've done something.

(light rattling) - [Chris] Chef Gillian doesn't just teach kids how to cook... - We're waiting for the fruit to come.

- [Chris] She takes them all the way back to the roots, literally, from planting seeds to pulling vegetables from the soil in their very own garden.

- We've got some spinach, try that.

(Chris laughing) Yeah, really, truly just try it.

- Straight-up try it?

- Just straight-up, cheers.

- Only for you, I'll say that right now.

- Oh, let's do it.

(laughs) It's got a nice peppery bite, right?

A little bit on its side, it's kind of a little bit bitter, a little bit peppery, so think about... - That's not bad.

- [Gillian] With the different fruits, and herbs, and lettuces, right?

That you can impart flavor so that you don't have to use so many processed things and ingredients.

- [Chris] From curry to couscous, Chef Gillian uses recipes from her travels and folds them into the Junior Cultured Chefs experience.

It gives kids a chance to try bold new flavors and discover just how big the world of food can be.

- They tell you the ingredients that they're making, so it's fun for them to do that, to learn new ingredients as well.

- These young people make food from Japan and Korea, Greece, we had Jamaica, Mexico, getting ready to explore the world, so even if you can't... No matter your circumstances, if you cannot go to that place physically, you can transport yourself through this plate of food.

- [Chris] What began as a single farmer's market demo has blossomed into something far bigger.

Junior Cultured Chefs now partners with five markets and multiple schools.

The program has grown with the same care and intention Chef Gillian pours into every lesson, but the real growth is in the kids, and what happens when they see what they're capable of.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Chris Clark.