Kathy Lange held up an avocado in front of a group of five adults and asked how many of them had tried one before. A few raised their hands. A couple admitted they hadn’t.
By the end of this one-hour cooking class, the University of Wisconsin Extension FoodWIse Nutrition Educator was not only going to introduce the fruit to the newbees but show everyone ways it can be used in recipes they may like.
That’s the idea behind Cooking with Kathy, a monthly class at Gundersen Boscobel Hospital – sponsored by Second Harvest Food Bank of Southern Wisconsin and UW Extension – that aims to show people news ways of using new foods they receive each month through Second Harvest’s Hunger Care program. The two organizations collaborated with Gundersen Boscobel, in part, because many of the people they serve are also Gundersen patients.
A food education
Each month on the second Friday, Lange presents a different topic and theme based on the foods recipients will get the following week. One month, she talked about whole grains, then the next, it was fruits and vegetables.
“The focus of the class is to give them a sneak peak of what they’re going to get in their boxes the next week,” said Cameron Novy, Gundersen Boscobel’s community wellness coordinator. “All of her recipes have items from the boxes.”
Lange starts each class with a nutrition lesson. At the July session, she taught a quick segment on how to read nutrition labels printed on every food item, then talked about caloric intake. After that, she gets to slicing and dicing. Last month, using what came in the Hunger Care boxes, Lange whipped up a crock pot of soup and a tortilla wrap. She passed out samples for participants to try.
One of those participants is Ann Snodgrass. She heard about the classes during her stint in cardio rehab at Gundersen Boscobel, and she decided she wanted to learn how to use the food she was receiving each month in different ways. She’s been to each of the six classes offered at the hospital this year.
Snodgrass said she’s trying foods that she’d never had before – including the avocado that was in last month’s box. It’s allowed her the opportunity to sample something without having to buy it first.
“That’s my biggest fear; I don’t want to waste money on something I’m not going to eat or like,” she said.
A change in diet
Participants have told Lange they’ve changed the way they shop for food since attending the classes, and they simply enjoy cooking more since learning techniques that can make it easier.
“It has changed the way they are cooking and eating and their ingredient choices at home,” Lange said. “They are saying ‘Hey, that’s a lot of fat’ or ‘I could substitute turkey for ground beef.’”
The message Lange wants people to know is that eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive, which is a concern for some. That’s why making the class free – for anyone, not just Gundersen patients or Second Harvest clients – was important.
“There’s a huge barrier for people when they see class offerings like this,” Novy said. “They say, ‘I’m not going to do that. You have to pay for that,’ or ‘How am I going to get there?’”
Since she’s started coming to the classes, Snodgrass has been incorporating new recipes into her repertoire. That’s not what she expected would happen.
“I thought at first it was going to be kind of silly, but it isn’t,” she said. “I’ve learned a lot because I do a lot of cooking, and I’ve learned a lot of things I didn’t know.”
Novy said it’s been rewarding seeing people try foods they’ve never had before or vowing to make the recipes they’ve been taught.
“Just watching in classes like this, the impact it has on people and what they’re taking away from it to apply to their daily lives to make it better, I feel like to me, that’s what’s been impactful in my work,” she said.
Lange hopes people who attend take away a new confidence in being able to provide for their own nutritional needs.
“I hope they walk away feeling like they can feed themselves within a budget,” she said.
For more information about the classes or to register, contact Novy (608) 375-6116, ext. 63804.