Throughout the past year, PFM has offered free Community Cooking Classes at our NoCo Community Kitchen, made possible through a generous grant from the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation!
The Community Cooking Classes furthered PFM’s mission to cultivate a healthy community by teaching SNAP, FMNP and FYN recipients simple, nutritious, and delicious ways to prepare seasonal fruits and vegetables they have access to at the market.
With the help of Chef and health coach Kristina Jones we created a cooking class curriculum that inspired a new way to look at fresh food. We invited all food assistance customers to attend the free cooking classes at our NoCo Community Kitchen. Chef Kristina taught both food preparation techniques and nutritional education, so that no food went to waste and every recipient felt empowered to create nourishing dishes with the local produce they buy and/or receive.
During the course of the year, participants were invited to attend the following classes:
- Cooking with Winter Squash
- Potatoes Three Ways
- Roasting Roots
- Salad Dressing Basics
- Salt Brine Fermenting
- Jams & Jellies
- Green Garlic Pesto
- Fresh Spring Rolls & Sauces
- Rainbow Veggie Stir Fry with Garlic & Rice
- Eggplant Parmesan
The goal of the program was to increase participants’ familiarity and comfort with seasonal vegetables and increase basic food preparation techniques that use the whole vegetable.
Participants reported that they have gained more knowledge and feel more confident and comfortable about ways to include more fresh produce in their diet and the importance of doing so.
Thank you, Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation and Chef Kristina Jones for making these free cooking classes possible. And thanks to the participants for celebrating local food with us! Let’s get cooking!
