Busy families don’t always put much effort into learning good cooking skills. The Snap-Ed Nutrition Assistant was asked by the Berea Summer Feeding Program coordinator to join their parent program at one of the feeding sights that neighbors the targeted housing project. This sight served an estimated 50 families per day during the summer months. Most of which were involved in a community garden provided by the church and a local community partner. Feeding children and educating parents was the goal. After talking with the parents, the nutrition assistant decided measuring and basic cooking lessons would be a good place to start.

There were six participants, two mothers and four children, the youngest being just 12 years old. They learned to measure flour, water and brown sugar correctly and cook pasta and omelets. Both mothers learned they had been overcooking eggs and pasta for years and improper measuring was the cause of botched baked goods. Both families reported better tasting meals prepared by the whole family and have requested cooking classes from the nutrition assistant during the winter months.