Oregon Food Bank: Cooking Matters
I am currently working with the Oregon Food Bank and teaching cooking classes to low income families. I am collaborating with a team of four to teach a class of 20 high risk diabetes individuals. Currently my role is as the nutrition educator; discussing different components of a diet and what foods can help regulate blood sugars. Previous classes I have been involved with included families of different ethnicities and primary languages, and special needs participants. In previous classes my role on the team was to shop for all ingredients for the recipes, both in class and one for the families to take home, and to teach the nutrition portion of the class. Nutrition content is typically focused on myplate, portion sizes, and healhty eating on a limited income. In family classes I had the opportunity to work with children to discuss the importance of a balanced diet and the healthy components of different foods in our meal. This opportunity has been extremely rewarding because teaching low income families and participants how to prepare healthy foods is a passion I enjoy pursuing in my free time.
