COOKING WORKSHOPS

Providing Solutions and Inspiring Families

Cooking Matters®, a campaign of Share Our Strength, inspires families with limited food budgets to make healthy, affordable and delicious meals. This innovative program provides a long-term solution to hunger by teaching practical shopping and cooking skills that make the most of existing resources, even when time and money are tight.
Taught by volunteer nutrition and culinary experts, participants learn about basic nutrition and food budgeting, strategic shopping, and straightforward meal preparation.

To practice what they learn in courses, adult participants receive groceries they can use to create a Cooking Matters meal with their families.

For Cooking Matters resources you can use anytime or anywhere, download the Cooking Matters app for Android. An iPhone version is planned for a future release.

All programs are regularly offered in English and Spanish, and in other languages by request.

Workshops

Grocery Store Tours

A free guided tour teaches participants how to shop strategically for nutritious food to prepare balanced meals without breaking the bank. Participants take home a booklet with recipes and shopping tips, a reusable grocery bag, and $10 worth of healthy groceries.

Cooking Matters in Your Community

This workshop teaches cooking, nutrition and food budgeting in conjunction with a recipe demonstration. This workshop can be adapted for adults or families and is suitable for a variety of settings.

Cooking Matters in Your Food Pantry

Tailored to a food pantry, these lessons put good nutrition at the forefront. When clients are shopping the pantry during a Cooking Matters demo, they receive information on how to make the most of available foods and the chance to taste recipes that use the ingredients.

Courses

Cooking Matters for Adults

Teaches adults how to prepare and shop sensibly for healthy meals on a limited budget over 6 weekly sessions. Lessons cover meal preparation, grocery shopping, food budgeting and nutrition. Participants practice fundamental food preparation skills, including proper knife techniques, reading ingredient labels, cutting up a whole chicken, and making a healthy meal for a family of four on a $10 budget.

Cooking Matters for Families

Brings school age children and their families together over 6 weekly sessions to learn about healthy eating, planning meals as a family, and working together in the kitchen. Lessons cover meal preparation, grocery shopping, food budgeting and nutrition. Participants practice fundamental food preparation skills, including knife techniques, reading ingredient labels and more.

Volunteer

Cooking Matters volunteers have an opportunity to help ensure that participants have a great learning experience and can put the healthy habits discussed in class into practice at home. You can volunteer as a culinary or nutrition instructor, course assistant, interpreter or store tour assistant. This is a great opportunity to engage your community and give back in a meaningful and personal way. Register today.

Host Cooking Matters

Tarrant Area Food Bank offers workshops and courses in collaboration with Partner Agencies and other community organizations at no cost to their clientele. If your organization is interested in hosting Cooking Matters, please fill out our Request form.