Break Down of Cooking Matters/18 Reasons
So Cooking Mattes here is where I interned during my Nutrition Assistant Program.
I wanted to have all the general info of this amazing cooking program blogged down :D
The information is from Cooking Matters cookbooks and their website and tidbits from my own experiences!
18 Reasons’s mission is to empower our community with the confidence and creativity to buy, cook and eat good food everyday. At our classroom space on 18th st in the Mission, we host hands on food experiences led by amazing teachers, while our Cooking Matters program brings free cooking and nutrition classes to low-income communities around the Bay Area. With eleven staff members, 300 volunteers, and 650 members, we help over 3,000 people each year discover what good food means to them.
At our storefront space on 18th street in the Mission District, we offer hands on cooking classes that explore techniques and recipes from the home chef’s point of view. We host a monthly community dinner, as well as special seasonal programs including Farm school and a teens culinary immersion. Through our Kitchen Table Talks, we present quarterly discussions on current policy and advocacy topics within the food system. Our space is home to a revolving gallery of food related art.
Our community- based program, Cooking Matters, offers free 6 week long cooking and nutrition classes to low-income adults, children, and families. Professional chefs and nutritionist volunteer to teach our classes, which are hosted by a variety of partner organizations including clinics, low-income housing sites, schools, food pantries, and community centers, We also train community health promoters or promotores de salad to deliver Cooking Matters classes in their own communities. This program offers community members valuable training in cooking, nutrition and facilitation skills, while enabling our program to reach class participants more
effectively.
Why ’18 Reasons’?
If you’ve been in the Mission for a while, you may remember the large sign atop a building at the corner of 17th street and Mission. It simply, and mysteriously stated: 17 Reasons: It was tragically taken down int 2002 and replaced by and ordinary billboard. To mark the change in the gallery’s maganment and pay tribute to this much missed icon, we decided to re-christen the space as 18 Reasons. Eighteen because our home it 18th street and because and we, it never hurts to have one more reason.
When meeting up with the team I asked more about this, my preceptor and her manager told me that the place had actually been a furniture store before that and had prompted people to come in and ask ‘Why 17 reasons?’ the owner had devised it as a way to get people ask which would get them into the store, a marketing tactic!
Cooking Matters is a program offering free, six-week long series of cooking and nutrition classes to low-income families. The culinary and nutrition instructors, supported by the class assistant and CM coordinator, work together in teams to facilitate the Cooking Mattes class. 18 Reasons partners with a variety of host sites including clinics, shelters, housing sites, and after-school programs to offer courses in communities throughout the Bay Area. Since 1993, Cooking Matters (formaly Share Our Strength’s Operation Frontline) has hosted over 100,000 Cooking Matters participants, empowering each person who attends the course to stretch their food budget and cook healthy meals! Today, 85% of Cooking Matters participants graduate; taking with them improved nutrition practices, eating habits, and food budgeting skills. The Cooking Matters curriculum was created by Share Our Strength, a national non profit dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America.
Cooking Matters Goals and Principles
I love Cooking Matters because of these goals and principles, cooking and eating together is so important so I completely vibe with these.
To improve the nutrition knowledge, eating habits, cooking skill, food safety practices, food resource management, and financial planning skills of people at risk of hunger so they can better provide for themselves and their families.
To provide chefs, nutritionist and other community members with an outlet to get involved in their communities and to share their skills with people who can benefit from them.
The program was designed and continues to be implemented with the following principles in mind:
The negative health and economic effects of hunger and poor diet can be avoided if families have both the knowledge and skills to shop for and prepare healthy, low-cost meals.
Chefs are valued instructors because of their creativity and energy.
Food is to be enjoyed. Those living on a low-income deserve to enjoy their food as well-and need to know how to create food that is delicious, satisfying, and healthy.
Volunteering, or sharing our strengths, is a way to create community wealth.
This is how the team is formed!
Coordinator
Health Promotor Instructor
Volunteer Nutritionist
Volunteer Chef
Volunteer Class Assistant
Cooking Matters Host site staff coordinator
A coordinator is kind of what it entails, they take care of logistics which provides copies of the recipes, shopping for food for the recipes and equipment and food needed and enjoy the recipes in class. There is also evaluations for the CM participants and the coordinator ensures these are filled out correctly and completely.
A Role of a health promoter instructor or Promotores de Salud They have graduated form 8 session promotor training where they learn about how to teach cook and nutrition and how to facilitate class dialogue. Once they graduate they serve as chefs and nutritionist in Cooking Matters classes. Within their own communities, they work together with other promoters and partner organizations to serve as a resource for the community and as ambassadors of Cooking Matters program.
Role of a Volunteer Nutritionist
The volunteer nutritionist must have a strong background in nutrition, food science, dietetics, or a related field. The nutritionist is expected to teach the Cooking Matters nutrition curriculum and cover topics including: using MyPlate as a tool for healthy eating, planning balanced meals, benefits of fruits and vegetables, improving eating habits eating healthy fats, food budgeting,serving sizes, reading labels and physical activity.
Role of Volunteer Chef
The volunteer chef must have a passion for food, knowledge surrounding healthy cooking and strong cooking skills.
Some expectations are: willingness to be trained in the Cooking Matters curricula
In accordance with the goals of Cooking Matters, all recipes that chef’s choose to prepare should be - low cost, less than 1.50/serving, made with common ingredients, easy to prepare, low-fat and should not require expensive equipment.
Role of a Volunteer class Assistant
Volunteers with an interest in cooking and/or nutrition are encouraged to serve in this position. They help with assisting the CM coordinator and volunteers with classroom set up, food prep, class activities, packing groceries for participants to take home and uploading kitchen equipment as well as clean up.
Role of a Cooking Matters Host site staff coordinator
Host site staff are in charge of ensuring that
8-15 participants are recruited, sign up, and commit to attending and participating in each session of the course.
Participant waivers and enrollment forms are sent home to be completed and signed by a parent/gaurdian and that completed forms are collected no later than the first day of class for Cooking Matters for Kids and Cooking Matters for Kids and Cooking Matters for Teens class (and Cooking Matters for Young Parents as needed)
An on site agency staff will be present during each class in the series
Reminders are given to enrolled participants (or guardians) the day before class.
Room and kitchen are set up, clean, and accessible at least 30 minutes prior to class.
Childcare and translation services are prepared by the site (if applicable)
Gold Standards for Cooking Matters Volunteers
Build a welcoming atmosphere.
Have respect and cultural sensitivity toward participants and their experiences
Manage inappropriate classroom behaviors.
Demonstrate knowledge of subject mattering taught.
Be prepared and organized.
Keep class on schedule.
Present, practice and encourage use of information and skills regarding food resource management.
There other Gold Standards as well for cooking sites and how a CM class should abide by.
Before a Cooking Matters Series
When a site wants to host a Cooking Matters class, their first step is to fill out a host site application, found on their website http://18reasons.org/cookingmatters_host.php
18 Reasons Health promotors are the heart of Cooking Matters! Each CM class should have a staff of four: a class coordinator (usualy and 18 reasons staff member), a nutrition instructor, a chef instructor, and a class assistant.
Description of a promotor
Low-income community member
Has a passion and desire to change the health of their communities through nutrition education
Shares a linguistic and cultural background with participants in classes they teach
Successfully graduated an 8-session training led by 18 reason staff
Here is a checklist for a hosting a site contact for a Cooking Matters Class!
Promotors who facilitate Cooking Matters course receive a stipend at the end of each series.
Pre-Class checklist for Host Contact Site WHILE SCHEDULING:
(New Sites only) Host site Agency Application competed online
‘New site only) Cooking Matters site visit complete
Class dates scheduled, specific site point person identified
Cooking Matters Agency MOU read, signed and returned to Cooking Matters
Cost Sharing discussed and agreed upon
10-15 class participants recruited and signed up for the program
For Cooking Matters for kids and Cooking Matters for Teens, signed by a guardian, and returned to site contact prior to first class.
A plan for childcare is in place, if necessary
A plan for translation services is in place, if necessary
A class zero is then conducted: Class Zero is an opportunity for the entire course team to meet each other in person prior to the course start, get a feel for the logistics of the course and the host site location, and develop an instructional plan for the first week of class.
There are some specific things to be notified about for the teens and kids CM class series. It is emphasized that CM staff will not focus on disciplining students since in the class there is just not enough bandwidth, site staff should be consistent with support in the room and should also manage behavior.
In the teens and kids classes new participants cannot be added after the second class. This is an issue that often arises in series for teens and kids.
Class Starts!
Before class starts
Mise en Place! A Cooking Matters motto!
As is important with any cooking session especially for group work, its pretty important to have everything in its place and ready to go. From food to utensils cups etc. Cooking Matters references the french version of this Mise en Place! Which means Everything in its Place! Its referenced to and taught during the courses as the way to begin at home cooking and included in curricula for the instructors.
Consider if anything needs to be cooked right away, like brown rice. This is important for a CM for kids series. The first recipe in every class is quesadilla with mango salsa and guacamole, I’m sure most people are pretty familiar with how hard it is to try and open a mango when you’re a kid. I always bugged my family members to cut them open for me because I wasn’t allowed too, luckily I was the first grandchild so they only had to prepare 1 or 2 a day which I always had to have when we were in Puerto Rico.
Before class recipe teams are assigned, sanitization and knife safety is reviewed. If someone finishes a task have the assist another recipe or start them on helping clean.
Cooking Matters Equipment Bins - The Mobile Kitchen
This list it what allows a CM course to work - coordinators travel with these bins in the back of their car- its a pretty impressive list and to that you add groceries for the planned meal.
Eating Utensils: Small Bin-1 Forks-20 Spoons-20
Cooking Utensils: Medium Bin-1 Spatulas-2 Large Plastic Spoons-2 Wooden Spoon-1 Grater,flat kind-2 Peelers-3 Tongs-1 Whisk-1 Meat Thermometer-1 Manual Juicer-1 Ladle-1 Can Opener-1 Measuring Cup Sets-2 Measuring Spoon Sets-2 Oven Mitt-2
Heating Equipment: Butane Burners-2 Butane Cartridges-6
Cleaning Equipment: Green Spray-1 Dish Soap-1 Sponges-2 Dish Towels-10
Eating Ware: Cups-20 Plates-20 Pitcher-1
Cooking Ware: Pots with Lids-2 Large Sauté Pans-2 Small Bowls-3 Medium Bowls-3 Large Bowls-2 Colanders-2 Casserole Dish(option)-1 Baking Sheets-2 Knives-20 Knife Roll-1
Cutting Boards-20
Food Items: Olive Oil/Spray Oil/Salt/Pepper/Spice Bin
Other Stuff: First Aid Kit-1 Ziplock Bags/Tin Foil/Pens/Name/Tags the bins themselves
Cooking Matters Nutrition Bins
In addition to Equipment Bins there is a bin dedicated to nutrition information and materials.
1.Food Models (5 of each food group)
2. MyPlate Poster
3. Whole grain model
4. Food labels:
1 whole grain pasta
1 whole grain granola
2 whole grain cereals
1 whole grain crackers
1 non whole grain crackers
1 misleading whole grain crackers
1 whole wheat tortilla
1 whole wheat bread
1 white bread
1 Top Ramen
5. Snack Packages:
chips
cookies
candy bar
6. Drink Models:
1 soda
1 juice
1 vitamin water
Milk
Energy Drink
1 Diet soda
7. Sugar cubes
8. Jeopardy Game
9. Fast food Menus (3)
10. Crisco
11. Straws
12. Paperwork folder (extra nutrition material
13. Markers
The nutrition information used is are really based on MyPlate standards which are based on the Dietary Guidelines. Some main one’s are make sure half your plate is fruits and vegetables, eat from each food group when you have a meal, make sure half of your grain portion is whole grain and choose low fat dairy options.
So things like knowing the difference between whole grain and non whole grain and how to identify that in a food label is great to be able to demo. The snack packages are mainly used for checking out the ingredient listing and to get participants aquatinted with the fact that the ingredient list and serving size is usually not for the whole package but a portion of the package.
The drink models are used in a similar way to snack packages, participants get aquatinted with serving size and ingredient lists, the focus for drinks is more on showing the sugar amount versus serving size. Most sodas and mainstream soda drinks also list the serving a portion or just half so when drinking for example an Arizona iced tea which may be 32 oz can you would look at the ingredient list and find the serving size. If the serving size says for 15 oz than its just listing the ingredients amounts for half the can and if you are to drink the whole thing your sugar intake will be double that. This is especially important because its where most people overload on their sugar intake and its fairly easy to do because you just drink it.
insert arizona iced tea
Other item demos help people see how much sugar they are consuming when drinking a can of coke, so the sugar cubes give people great examples of this!
I personally like the crisco demo, in the textbook its called the blubber burger! We did this for a high school class and the visual really has such an impact.
