Healthy eating goes deeper than healthy ingredients, and that’s what our Nutrition Education Manager John Coleman hopes to share with our community through classes like Cooking Matters. 

Cooking Matters is a six-week program developed by Share Our Strength focused on helping people shop for and cook healthy, budget-friendly meals. Throughout the course, attendees learn new skills through both hands-on experience in the kitchen and in-depth discussion in a classroom-like setting. 

“My hope with Cooking Matters, and all of our nutrition education programming, is that our neighbors leave each class with the knowledge, skills, tools and confidence to shop for and prepare affordable, healthy, meals at home using foods they receive from The Market (or other pantries) or foods they may have purchased,” John said. 

One recent student of the class, Erin, joined because she wanted to build her cooking skills at home. As a mom, her hope was to support healthy eating for her son. 

“Because we have a young son, it's important to me to teach my kid healthy habits and give him a foundation for success,” she said. 

In the beginning, Erin started with the basics. Prepping, chopping and learning simple, easy-to-make recipes. From there, she moved on to learn more about cooking on the stovetop and in the oven. She emphasized that while working with John, she felt like she was safe to try new things. 

“It was really helpful to watch the instructor [show a technique], and then do the same right afterwards, and have them there,” Erin said. “It felt like I couldn't mess this up because I had a teacher there.” 

After finishing the course, Erin feels like she’s walking away with usable skills going in to the future. 

“I think before taking a cooking class, I would definitely have described myself as somebody that cannot cook,” Erin said. “Now I feel like I am somebody that has the tools to cook if I decide to invest the time and energy in doing that, and I'm definitely going to.” 

For John, being able to share his passion for food and help students leave with new skills is at the heart of Cooking Matters and many of the other classes he shares.

"Being able to offer Cooking Matters and our other nutrition education programming such as our Cooking for One class, Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, and Diabetes Self-Management Program is a rewarding experience," John said. "I am someone who is very passionate about food, and its fun being able to share that same passion with others and know that it is making a positive impact in the community we serve."

Cooking Matters is returning to The Market from Oct. 7 to Nov. 11! Join the six-week class on Wednesdays from 10 a.m.-Noon by emailing John at jcoleman@sharefoodbringhope.org.