Something Great Cooking at the Food Pantry

Clients of the Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry will tell you at any distribution that this Pantry is the best in their area, operated by great volunteers, offering healthy choices, and providing wonderful support services to those in need.  It’s a place where we are always asking “What more can we do?” and over the past year, the launch of the “Cooking Matters” programs has brought adult clients into the kitchen with our trained staff, interns and volunteers to learn cooking and shopping skills that will equip them to change their lives through healthier eating.  This month, another group of eager participants began the program. 

The Pantry’s Program Coordinator Adriana Riano and Nutritionist Maria Delis work together to coordinate the sessions.

“Classes are very specific, and the skills are easy to learn, but so necessary,” says Adriana. “We assume people know these things, but they don’t.  We teach them things that really improve their health.”

Cooking Matters involves a detailed curriculum.  Pantry staff are trained through Everthrive, which has authorized us to lead our own classes. Participants must complete 4 of 6 classes offered in order to graduate.   Adriana, Maria, a team of volunteers and nutrition interns ran the programs on Tuesday afternoons for two hours.  The adult students learned to prepare recipes, read labels, and even took a trip to the grocery store to learn how to buy the ingredients for a nutritious meal for a family of four for under $10.00.

Janet Watkins, a Pantry client turned volunteer who participated in the adult sessions found the program life-changing.

“They taught me so much as far as eating proper was concerned.  Since I have gone to the program I lost 15 pounds, mostly by learning to drink water with fruit instead of sweetened drinks.  I also met a lot of great people in the group—a young lady I met and I have become great friends,” Janet says.  She now prepares some of the recipes for her family, including her great-grandchildren, who especially love the taco dish Janet learned to prepare using healthy ingredients.  She looks forward to working in the upcoming sessions with children as the main participants.

With another session taking place this month, there’s sure to be great things cooking at the Pantry – well, at least on Tuesday afternoons.