MACC's Low-Income Cooking Course Still Has Openings

Thanks to a new course offered by the Manchester Area Conference of Churches (MACC), low-income residents can learn about nutritional cooking and feeding their family on a budget.

Since this spring, MACC Charities, in conjunction with UConn SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) Education and the non-profit group Share our Strength, has been offering a free six-week course for low-income residents called “Cooking Matters.” 

The latest session begins today (Thursday, Sept. 22) and will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. at the MACC soup kitchen, 466 Main St.

As of this week, there were still four openings available in the latest session, which is limited to eight students. Anyone interested in taking the course – they must first meet income eligibility requirements – can make up any one of the six classes they may miss in a future session.

According to MACC, students will learn hands-on cooking instruction, nutrition activities and discussions will accompany communal eating of food prepared in class. Groceries to prepare the recipe at home are provided each week.

“We have actually been doing nutrition classes for a couple of years with UConn but this Cooking Matters we just started in April or May of this past year,” explained Dale Doll, Director of Food Services at MACC.

Doll said that she noticed a need for this type of class when talking to people who frequent MACC’s food pantry.

“When people come to the pantry, we do a little budget with them and I could tell a lot of people didn’t really know how to shop or were shopping at a convenience store or something and not really getting the most out of their food dollars,” she said.

From there, the Cooking Matters class was born. “It’s a six-week class and the curriculum is from the Share our strength’s program called Cooking Matters,” said Doll. “We are doing [sessions] once every eight weeks.” According to its website, Share Our Strength is an organization whose goal is to end childhood hunger in America.

“It’s stuff people can build on and learn from; I’m pretty excited about it,” said Doll. “It’s a really nice program and it’s got a really nice curriculum about cooking basics and the food pyramid.”

The two-hour class is split into two parts. “Half of the class is discussion on nutrition and then the second class is actual cooking classes so they do hands on cooking and also learn about food safety and food prep,” said Doll.

A chef from Burton’s Grill in South Windsor previously led the class but scheduling issues meant a new instructor was needed. “I now have a student [whom she called “Chef Jeff”] who is graduating from Lincoln Culinary Institute,” said Doll.

In addition, UConn SNAP Education provides a nutritionist who teaches that component of the course.

Students leave the class each week with a grocery bag of ingredients that they can use “to reinforce” what they just learned, said Doll. She added, “So it would be the same recipe that they would make at night for their family or for themselves—to reinforce what they learned that day.”

Students are also taught about shopping with coupons and smart shopping. “They actually have a shopping component to it. One of the classes is actually going to the grocery store. They get a gift card to shop and they’re supposed to buy all the ingredients that they would need to feed a family of four for one night with $10,” said Doll.

The very last class, students cook a meal for themselves. “The class sits down as a family” and has a formal dinner, according to Doll. “They sit down and see how a table should be set,” she added.

Doll pointed out that the course provides basic information that people can build on. “Once they get a little more comfortable with the stuff they learn they can improvise [with recipes] and change them a little according to what their family likes,” she said. “And they’ll know how to change some of their recipes at home – things they’re used to making. They’ll learn that maybe you can use less oil in this and a little applesauce instead and it will taste just as good. It won’t have as many calories but will have more nutrition.”

Anyone interested in taking the Cooking Matters course may call Doll at (860) 288-4251 to see if they qualify.