Volunteer Chefs Needed to Teach Healthy Cooking in the Community

Are you a chef who loves to share your passion for cooking healthy meals? As a facilitator of the Cooking Matters® program, you can make a difference by teaching people in your community how to get more food for their money and better nourishment from those foods.

Cooking Matters® is part of the national non-profit Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign. Participants learn culinary skills from some of the top chefs in the area and learn how to integrate the 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines into teachable lessons for thousands of county residents.

“We have convened over 40 community organizations during the past year to hear about the challenges they face in providing low-cost, healthy meals. We learned that many human service providers need culinary skills and nutrition education, so they can support healthier food choices among the residents they serve,” said Cindy Barry, coordinator of the ACHIEVE New London County Coalition. 

The ACHIEVE Coalition will host a Cooking Matters facilitator training for local chefs, nutritionists and dietitians who are interested in being leaders in their communities by facilitating the Cooking Matters program in schools and at various human service organizations. The training will be held at FRESH New London on Monday, February 10 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

“Traditionally chefs and dietitians are coming from opposite directions regarding food. This program is unique in that dietitians and chefs are coming together for the good of the community,” said Susan Beeman, R.D., of UConn Health Center and the Chair of ACHIEVE’s Eat Healthy Workgroup. “Professional Dietitians are making a significant contribution by demonstrating that even on a budget, you can make great tasting meals using healthy foods.”

For more information or to register for the training, please contact Cindy Barry at 860-448-4882 ext. 302 or cbarry@llhd.org.