Stretching Food Budgets While Celebrating Food Traditions

COOKING MATTERS
June 18, 2023 at 5:31 p.m.
Gina Lee, former Cooking Matters Partnerships Coordinator, demonstrates how to cut dumplings, photo by Shana McCann, courtesy RSVPs Experience in Action newsletter
Gina Lee, former Cooking Matters Partnerships Coordinator, demonstrates how to cut dumplings, photo by Shana McCann, courtesy RSVPs Experience in Action newsletter
...by Gwen Campbell

Solid Ground’s Cooking Matters program has supported families experiencing food insecurity for almost 30 years, leading classes on how to shop for and cook healthy food on a budget in partnership with national anti-hunger organization Share Our Strength.

The foundation of Cooking Matters is a six-week series of two-hour-long cooking classes led by staff, community volunteers with a passion for cooking, and professional chefs and nutritionists. The program partners with community organizations – like housing sites, health clinics, and community centers – to recruit class participants who use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

Each class is led by a team of three trained volunteers who work alongside a staff coordinator to facilitate fun, lively, interactive, and informative classes. Participants engage in educational activities and help prepare a shared meal. At the start of the pandemic, Solid Ground staff pivoted to provide virtual classes, reimagining cooking together to create community during a time of profound social isolation. Currently, they offer both in[1]person and virtual classes.

Leaning into Solid Ground’s anti-racism commitment and food justice efforts fueled discussions about what health looks like across different cultures, barriers to improving health, and the resources needed to do so. Weaving anti-racism and anti-oppression values into Cooking Matters has expanded its scope and its related Community Food Education (CFE) resources.

Creating healthier communities begins with the realization that marginalized groups have fewer options and resources to access healthy, high[1]quality foods. “Conversations exploring the systems that create these barriers are critical,” says Michael Friedman, CFE Program Manager.

Participants share recipes for culturally important foods and try recipes from other cultures. They learn how advertising targets consumers, how to read food labels, and how to cut through the food-marketing fog. Detailed information about SNAP eligibility, food banks, and meal programs is posted on the Get Help | Food & Nutrition section of Solid Ground’s website.

Cooking Matters recipes aim to yield six servings for $15, which has been especially challenging as food prices rise rapidly. Focusing on hearty recipes such as stews – and using staples and pantry items from food banks – helps stretch food budgets. With the ethos that people are the experts in their own lives, program staff and volunteers work to create a space where people can share what they’ve learned from their own experiences with food insecurity.

Participants leave class with a grocery bag of ingredients for the day’s recipe, and online learners receive a grocery gift card. They share recipe revisions catering to food preferences, taste, or budgets, which deepens the sense of community and adds value to the class. Cooking Matters staff work with interpreters to facilitate classes for participants with limited English proficiency.

Feedback from participants is enthusiastic: “When can we do this again?!” Participants report that they love trying new foods and want more recipes for soul food and nutritious desserts. For example, a recent class was excited about making dumplings, not part of the class curriculum, so CFE created a dumpling workshop event. One-time events such as workshops, cookouts, and demonstrations are planned to “pass the torch” to community partners to lead these events in their own communities.
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