Community Health Education Dietetic Intern Elisabetta Ballaben shares some of her recent “on the job” experiences:
As a dietetic intern with the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, I had the awesome experience to volunteer with the Cooking Matters classes for adults and children. These two classes were such a fun way for me to experience community health education and I really enjoyed the entire process of making the classes successful. If you aren’t familiar with this program, Cooking Matters is a campaign that makes efforts to end childhood hunger by teaching families to take initiative and get involved in creating healthful and affordable meals. Participants in all Cooking Matters classes learn through interactive lessons and other hands-on tools that healthy food choices are for everyone. I was really excited to be involved with these classes from a nutrition perspective, because the combination of practical kitchen skills with basic nutrition concepts is truly the catalyst for healthy eating habits.
The Cooking Matters for Adults class I participated in was at Caramore Community Center, and I got to participate as the class nutrition educator. For this class, we all pitched in and made a delicious dish of vegetable and rice stir-fry. This class also covered knife skills during the culinary portion, and it was really fun to see the participants start to gain the confidence to use a knife safely. The fun thing about Cooking Matters classes is that there are nutrition education opportunities that can be presented in the most applicable way for participants. We were all able to discuss the different food groups that were present in our stir-fry dish, and to learn about the importance of adding more fruits, vegetables and whole grains to our diets. It was really an enjoyable experience to watch the adult participants start to gain confidence in the kitchen.
Cooking Matters for Kids at Mangum Elementary School was also a great experience, and it was really fun to watch the young participants take their first steps into the world of cooking. At first I was a bit apprehensive about giving young children lessons on proper knife skills, but they really surprised me with how fast they caught on and their ability to safely cut vegetables for the soup they prepared. The enthusiasm that all the kids had for the dish they were preparing and the excitement they had to participate was really fun to be a part of. They were really engaged in the nutrition lesson as well, and they did a great job exploring how each of their favorite foods fit into a healthy diet. Participating in both of these Cooking Matters classes has been one of the most interesting and enjoyable experiences of my internship. If you are able, please consider volunteering at a Cooking Matters class. The experience is invaluable!
If you are interested in volunteering with the Community Health Education Cooking Matters program, please visit our website for more information.