The Food Bank strives to make sure food insecure families receive nutritious meals, but we go even further to empower our clients to make healthy food decisions. Through our CHOICES Nutrition Education Program, clients can take free nutrition education classes that focus on healthy eating. We offer multiple classes, each with a theme geared toward different age groups.
During the six-week Cooking for Your Life class series, participants learn how to cook healthy foods, how to modify recipes and how to follow basic kitchen safety principles. Each week features a new recipe using whole grains, fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy and lean protein.
The classes teach clients how to read a nutrition label and how to eat a balanced meal to ensure they’re eating from all the food groups: fruits, grains, vegetables, protein and dairy. By using common objects, like a deck of cards and computer mouse, the nutrition educator helps participants identify the correct portion size for each food group. It’s easier to remember to eat one cup of fruit when you compare it to the size of a baseball.
Eating healthy doesn’t mean eating tasteless meals. Attendees get hands-on experience as they cook a modified recipe that teaches them how to make a nutritious meal and use different ingredients that some have never used. By the end of the class, the empty bowls speak for themselves.
“I’ve participated to cook in all the classes, which helps me learn how to use ginger, how to cook, what to cook first,” class attendee Gloria, 46, said. “No one has ever taught me that.”
Gloria has taken what she has learned home. She includes all the food groups in her meals and has made changes to the food she buys. Her family eats brown rice instead of white rice now, and for her 6-year old daughter, there are no more Cheetos or cookies.
For other participants, like Maria, 54, reducing sugars, tortillas and bread has helped regulate her diabetes. She has also lost five pounds since making changes to her diet. Her family isn’t complaining about her new cooking style either.
“My family has noticed everything,” Maria said. “They find more flavor [in the food] than before when I was adding more condiments.”
Along with hands-on training in making nutritious meals, clients also learn about food safety- everything from how to properly defrost food to what types of knives should be used when cutting meat.
With what the clients have learned, they have taken action in their lives. In addition to changing their diets, they have started a walking group. After dropping off their children at school, the parents meet up to go on walks and get their exercise for the day.
Thanks to the information they have received during the Cooking for Your Life class series, our clients are leading healthier lifestyles.
“This is a new opportunity to educate ourselves, and we always learn something new in class,” Gloria said.
