Nutrition Is for Everyone – June 2017

At the close of the first pilot year, the Louisiana project looks back and celebrates its successes. Over the last year, the project offered four Cooking Matters courses that taught individuals with disabilities and their family members and friends the skills and confidence to eat, cook and shop healthfully on a budget. These six-week courses engaged more than 70 participants in hands-on nutrition and culinary instruction where they chopped, mixed and stirred their way to healthier diets. Additionally, our project selected and trained seven Deputy Nutrition Ambassadors, including individuals both with and without disabilities, to act as nutrition instructors and advocates in their communities. Response to the program has been overwhelmingly positive and many participants report improvements in dietary behaviors even six to eight weeks after the end of Cooking Matters classes. Cooking Matters is a program of Share Our Strength, a national organization working to end childhood hunger in the United States, and more information can be found at cookingsmatter.org.

In the coming year, the Louisiana project is excited to expand its programming to reach even more people across the state of Louisiana. The project will pilot single day nutrition education events, in addition to the six-week Cooking Matters courses, where participants will learn how to integrate more fruits and vegetables into their diets. The project also looks forward to selecting and welcoming its new Deputies for the coming year.