Guest Post by Jessica Caouette, Cooking Matters Central and Western MA Manager
Who We Are and What We Do: Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters® teaches families at risk of hunger how to get more food for their money and better nourishment from those foods, as part of the No Kid Hungry campaign to end childhood hunger in America. Volunteer culinary and nutrition experts lead six-week cooking and nutrition courses and hour-long Cooking Matters at the Store tours where participants learn how to select nutritious and low-cost ingredients and prepare them in delicious and healthy ways. Cooking Matters is nationally sponsored by the ConAgra Foods® Foundation and Walmart. For more information, visit CookingMatters.org.
Over the past two years, Cooking Matters Massachusetts has been expanding substantially in the Central and Western parts of the state. Cooking Matters operates by partnering with organizations that have an identified need for nutrition education for their clients. Cooking Matters provides a 6-week food skills nutrition education course as well as one-time educational events for organizations when the 6-week model may not be the right fit. For example, Cooking Matters at the Store is an interactive grocery store tour that teaches low-income families to shop for healthy, affordable food. Participants learn to find whole grains, buy fruits and vegetables on a tight budget, compare unit prices, and read food labels. Additional toolkits exist for organizations that are looking to provide other food skills education experiences for their clients, participants or patients. In 2013, Cooking Matters Massachusetts will reach 5,000 families through our different types of programming. And, Cooking Matters is always looking for volunteers to share their expertise! Regular new volunteer trainings are held to orient and train volunteers about how to lead our food skills education courses. Upcoming trainings and events can be found here.
Most recently, Cooking Matters Massachusetts was highlighted in the Telegram and Gazette after U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester attended a course at the UMass Memorial Wellness Center at the Plumley Village Apartments. He expressed how pleased he was to see the program because it is so critical for him to be able to provide these real life examples right now when the conversation about cuts to SNAP-ed keeps occurring. The particular area where this housing complex is located is a food desert in Worcester. McGovern asked the families about where they shop and how that impacts their selections. He spoke for a moment about the importance of resources like Cooking Matters at the Store so that when families in food deserts do get the opportunity to shop they knew how to do it well and on a budget.
Plumley Village resident and Cooking Matters graduate Laura summed up her experience best by saying, “I love the way that I can now prepare healthy food on a low budget. I have new ideas and learned a lot of things I didn’t know before.”
For more information about volunteering with Cooking Matters or running programming at your organization, please contact Jessica Caouette, jcaouette@strength.org.
Website: www.cookingmatters.org/mass
Twitter: @MaCookinMatters
