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Cooking Matters^® | ChooseMyPlate | Good Shepard Food Bank | Video Playlist

Program Overview
Faculty
Cooking Matters® for Families
Cooking Matters® for Adults
References

Program Overview

Cooking Matters^® is a ground-breaking nutrition-education program that empowers individuals and families to stretch their food budget to create healthier meals at home through hands-on cooking classes. This behavior-change curriculum leads participants through cooking and nutrition activities that teach strategies to prepare healthy, tasty and low-cost meals. Participants learn to shop on a budget, use nutrition information to make healthy choices and cook delicious affordable meals.

Cooking Matters^® has multiple curriculum for different audiences, including child care professionals, families, kids, parents, teens and adults. In this program we utilize content from both the Cooking Matters^® for Families (CMF) and the Cooking Matters^® for Adults (CMA).

In Maine, Cooking Matters^®is managed by Good Shepard Food Bank, and classes are taught through partnerships throughout the state. Because of its ability to support healthy choices and a healthy lifestyle, Cooking Matters^® is a natural fit for the medical sector. By offering a course, participants will learn valuable nutrition education to empower them to make healthy and informed food choices.

The basics:

8-15 participants will cook and learn together and build a community of support.
You will meet once a week for 6 weeks, with each session being 2 hours.
Classes are taught in tandem by someone who teaches the nutrition aspect and someone who teaches culinary concepts. One does not need to be trained in culinary arts to do this role.
Participants get take home groceries to reinforce what is learned in the class by practicing at home.

For more information, see the Cooking Matters^® and Good Shepard Food Bank links located at the top of this page.

Anyone interested in holding a Cooking Matters^® class should contact Courtney Kennedy at ckennedy@gsfb.org or 207-782-3554 x1125.

Faculty

	Carrie Gordon, MD Carrie trained as pediatric nephrologist, but she is currently the director of the pediatric arm of the Maine Medical Center Weight and Wellness Clinic. She has a longstanding love of cooking, which was inherited from her Italian and French-Canadian grandmothers. She has focused her work efforts over the last 5 years toward advancing her knowledge of how health and food intersect, and loves to encourage her patients to use food as a tool to improve their health. She has intermittently taught Cooking Matters cooking classes for her patients over the last 5 years.
	Emily Keller, MD, MPH Emily is primary care pediatrician working at Western Maine Pediatrics and Maine Medical Center, where she sees patients ranging from newborns to young adults. She is board certified in General Pediatrics and in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine. She is passionate about promoting healthy lifestyle habits to empower kids and families to live healthy and happy lives, particularly when it comes to food! Through the Maine Medical Center Preventive Medicine program, she was a mentee of Carrie Gordon's and learned from Carrie and others to refine her practical nutrition counseling--and her own cooking!--to nudge delicious behavior change.
	Courtney Kennedy, MEd Courtney Kennedy is the Nutrition and Education Manager for Good Shepherd Food Bank (GSFB) and Program Manager for Cooking Matters Maine, a food skills and nutrition education program for low-income families. Courtney has worked in education and nutrition roles in the public education sector prior to her work with GSFB. In her tenure at GSFB, Courtney created and implemented a robust nutrition policy that guides the work of the organization. Courtney holds a Bachelor of Science in Education and Allied Health Professions with a concentration in Dietetics from University of Dayton and a Masters in Adult Education from University of Southern Maine. In her free time Courtney enjoys running, competing in triathlons, baking, gardening, and playing with her Newfie, Maggie.

For over 20 years, Cooking Matters^® has empowered families with the skills to stretch their food budgets and cook healthy meals so their children get nutritious food at home. Their programs teach parents and caregivers to shop for and cook healthy meals – building a world where healthy eating choices are available for everyone. Cooking Matters educates through interactive, hands-on lessons and digital education tools and resources.

Let’s Go! is an obesity prevention initiative working with communities to create environments that support healthy choices. Bringing evidence-based strategies for healthy living into schools, child care and out-of-school programs, health care practices, and workplaces, Let’s Go! reaches children and adults where they live, learn, work, and play. While we primarily work in the state of Maine and in Mount Washington Valley, New Hampshire, we have partnerships all over the United States. If you or your organization is outside of Maine and you are interested in using our program, click here for more information.

The HRSA Preventive Medicine Enhancement for Maine (PrevMe) grant is a 5 year program that emerged from the established Leadership in Preventive Medicine Residency (LPMR) Program in the Division of Community Health and Preventive Medicine at MMC. Our goals are designed to increase the number of physicians trained in Preventive Medicine (PM), and to create tools, training and strategies for practical clinical application of a Preventive Medicine Perspective. The focus is on Maine’s two key public health challenges: opioid addiction and childhood obesity. PrevME is committed to educating medical learners, patients and community members on food for health and healing by offering culinary medicine, nutrition education and access to healthy food.

Cooking Matters^® for Families

Cooking Matters^® for Adults

References

Check back for more information.

Acknowledgement of the support of the HRSA Grant 18-008: The Preventive Medicine Enhancement for Maine (PrevME project). This program is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $1.9 Million with 0% financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.