During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mercedes Tiggs, MSW ’12, was living in a one-room apartment with her dog, experiencing significant anxiety and depression. 

“I was very fortunate to bring myself out of that rut by coming up with weekly activities in the kitchen,” Tiggs said. 

She found planning meals and cooking to be therapeutic, and reasoned that if it helped her it may also help others. So, Tiggs fused her passion for mental health with her passion for cooking to create a nontraditional therapy intervention.

A graduate of the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, Tiggs created Eight16 in 2020, a culinary therapy program that provides individual and group sessions incorporating the preparation of a meal in the kitchen.

Eight16 is driven by Tiggs’ fervor for transforming lives through building healthier and more mindful communities. Starting as Zoom meetings during the pandemic, it has now expanded to contracted work for in-person culinary therapy group sessions within nonprofit agencies, universities and school districts. Recently, Tiggs was awarded the California Farm to School Incubator Grant, in partnership with the San Marcos Unified School District, receiving $180,000 to implement culinary therapy within schools over the next two years. The program will focus on helping children with specific life circumstances that may affect their health, well-being or education, including those  from low-socioeconomic neighborhoods, foster youth, survivors of human trafficking and formerly incarcerated youth. 

According to Omar López, teaching professor at USC Social Work, Tiggs was geared toward big ideas even as an MSW student.

"Mercedes’ out-of-the-box thinking was prominently evident during her foundational year in the MSW program,” López said. “She gravitated towards a macro focus during her studies, and subsequently as a clinician with her own private practice through the innovative approach of culinary therapy.”

Using lived experience to create healthier communities

Tiggs grew up in South Central Los Angeles and within the foster care system for 18 years. She and her siblings were raised by their maternal grandmother, serving as their foster parent. 

“We grew up in a community household and were raised by the community,” Tiggs said. 

As part of the foster care system, she was required to attend therapy sessions, but, she was also raised to keep feelings inside the household.

“Being African American, my grandma had this thing — ’what happens in the house, stays in the house,’” Tiggs explained. 

On one occasion, Tiggs was honest during a therapy session, and what she discussed was shared with her grandmother. Afterward, her grandmother warned her not to talk about what was going on with ‘outsiders,’ because she risked being removed from the house. 

“I remember after that, therapy being very surface level and not really getting to the root of trauma,” Tiggs said. “I just said what I needed to say to get through the 35-45 minute session.”

Based on her experience, Tiggs posited that there were probably many children who did what she had done in therapy sessions and, therefore, did not receive the help they needed. 

For her, culinary therapy is an opportunity for those with difficult living situations to open up about their trauma, make social connections and be empowered just by the act of doing it. 

“My ultimate goal is to create something nontraditional that will allow people to want to participate,” Tiggs said. “Especially those who are scared or holding on to family secrets they just can't get out because culturally it can impact the entire household.”

Doing the work in the kitchen

Through Eight16 culinary therapy group sessions, Tiggs helps individuals build social skills, communication skills, healthy relationships and work through trauma. She is intentional about what they are cooking, incorporating different recipes for exposure to different cultures and types of food, while being mindful of what is available at local grocery stores. Together, participants go over the class objective, discussion topics, mindful recipe cards and exercises before delving into the chopping and cooking.

Tiggs and her team partner with K-12 schools, community colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations and small businesses to provide their unique brand of therapy to the community. They participate in summer camps, projects with local farmers, and organizational team building initiatives. Group sessions will utilize a community kitchen, campus kitchen or sometimes a “kitchen” is created in whatever space is available, with Eight16’s own equipment and utensils.

One of Eight16’s recent projects was working with the San Diego Unified School District to engage with foster youth in grades 6-12. Every second Saturday of the month, youth from different backgrounds experiencing trauma worked together in the kitchen. 

One child had trauma related to knives, so Tiggs started her off with an apple peeler. As they worked through the class series, the child’s level of comfortability with knives began to grow. Another child, who was on the autism spectrum, loved cleaning the dishes for the group. 

“All he wanted to do was wash the dishes,” Tiggs said. “And that's great because there are line cooks and dish washers, and this opens up his world to opportunity if that's something he’s interested in.”

Throughout the class, Tiggs reminds students to stay present in the moment as part of the therapy.

“We’re not just taking a cutting board and chopping at something right away,” Tiggs said. “We’re also working on our breath. As we hold the knife up, we want to inhale and then when we stroke to go down, we want to exhale.” 

Students pay attention to color, texture, smells, taste and what they see, while receiving mindfulness tips from start to finish.

“You’d be surprised at how therapeutic it is to cut a bell pepper,” Tiggs said.

At the end of every class, the group breaks bread together. They pay homage to the farmers in the field, the clerks stocking the shelves in the stores and everyone who has participated in the class. 

After every series, Tiggs creates a cookbook for the students to take home, compiling all the recipes the group produced. Her hope is that they will be able to replicate the work they do together back in their communities, become more knowledgeable about the foods they eat and understand how food impacts their mental health.

Envisioning a global mindful community

“I dream of being a Black farmer with a community kitchen for our culinary therapy groups,” Tiggs said. “I want to provide a safe space where individuals can learn cooking skills, build community, share meals and participate in our series.” 

Tiggs wants to give back and help improve mental health outcomes within communities by providing innovative, accessible and equitable services to the most vulnerable populations in need. She would also like to see an integrated nutrition and mental health specialization within schools of social work, and believes there are more clinicians and chefs that share her passion to help others in this way.

“I would love culinary therapy to eventually become a nontraditional intervention in schools,” Tiggs said. “So, we're not sending students to time out or detention, but instead we're signing them up for an after school mindfulness cooking class.”