New York ? Rachael Ray is putting her “big mouth” to good use — to teach schoolkids to grow and eat healthier food.

The star TV chef and author joined New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Thursday at a Brooklyn school — one of 25 in the city that have built their own gardens “to empower kids to cook and have a healthier relationship with food,” Ray told a gathering of children, teachers and officials on the playground of Public School 29.

They stood in front of boxes of vegetables and herbs that will go into school lunches. Ray is helping create menus for 1,600 city public schools where students also are taught cooking and nutrition.

The New York effort is part of a national campaign against childhood obesity led by first lady Michelle Obama, who helped Washington schoolchildren create a White House garden.