Last year, in partnership with UMass Extension’s SNAP-ED program, we held cooking demonstrations at two of our Healthy Markets, and plan to hold several more in 2015.
We hosted one at DeMello’s Produce Market and one at Amaral’s Market, this past fall, where Allison Miller, a dietitian from SNAP-ED cooked up a healthy and inexpensive meal made with fresh ingredients bought straight from both stores. The project aims to help individuals who receive SNAP benefits learn how to cook healthy meals with ingredients they can afford, while promoting our Healthy Markets. Our Healthy Markets are small corner stores and small grocers that often provide an abundance of food to children and families living within food deserts – areas where there is no supermarket within a half mile radius.
The cooking demonstrations build upon the goal of providing these communities with more access to healthy foods, by then showing them how to make healthy and inexpensive meals with the produce. Many people are intimidated by cooking, so the demonstrations show people how simple and quick healthy cooking can be.
Here’s a great article from the Standard Times, covering our cooking demonstration at Amaral’s this past fall.
We look forward to continuing to host cooking demonstrations in partnership with more of our healthy markets, and this coming summer at the New Bedford Farmers’ Market.