Cooking Matters:
For partners
Tell me more about Nourish Colorado and Cooking Matters
Nourish Colorado offers partners with the ability to host Cooking Matters classes at their location of choice. We call this the train-the-trainer model: we help train you to then implement Cooking Matters classes yourself. We support our partners with the resources and technical assistance they need to successfully host classes for their clients.
How do I get started?
Are you interested in hosting Cooking Matters classes at your Colorado-based food bank, community center, school, family resource center or other organization? Read out FAQ’s below to make sure this program makes sense for you. To get started on the process, fill out our Agency Application. Someone from the Nourish Colorado team will reach back out upon completion.
Once you become a partner with us, you will have access to our Satellite Partner Resource Hub, which is full of information and materials to set your organization up for success when hosting Cooking Matters classes.
Curricula
All of the Cooking Matters curriculum is based on USDA guidelines and follows MyPlate standards. See below for different types of curricula that Cooking Matters offers. Take a look through and see what best fit your audience.
Cooking Matters CORE
Lessons 1-6
Lessons 7-13
Handouts
User Guide
Cooking Matters at Home
Lessons are in English with participant-facing materials in both English & Spanish.
Feeding in the First Year
No More Mealtime Madness
Drink to Your Health
Making Recipes Work for You
Hack Your Snack
Kids Say Yes to Fruits & Veggies
The Family Kitchen
Additional Resources for Organizations
CO SNAC
Colorado State Nutrition Action Council (CO SNAC) brings organizations and agencies together to find solutions to the most pressing issues in Colorado around nutrition and food insecurity. Their mission is to increase access to affordable, nutritious, and sustainable foods while honoring cultural traditions.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you’re interested in hosting Cooking Matters courses at your organization, please first read our FAQ’s. You can reach out to Rakia Ranney rakia@nourishcolorado.org with any further questions.
As Nourish takes on a more limited SNAP-Ed budget and has limited additional resources for Cooking Matters program implementation from Share our Strength, we are unable to continue financially supporting train-the-trainer partners across the state with stipends, in-class groceries, or take home groceries and gift cards. We are able to provide technical assistance to train-the-trainer partners, including peer to peer networks and learning opportunities. We can also provide no-cost curricula, data and evaluation support, community learning and relationship building, and information sharing to those who would like to continue delivering Cooking Matters even without financial support.
As all Cooking Matters Colorado staff have transitioned away from their CM support roles, we are unable to provide the same level of implementer support as was previously provided by the robust Share our Strength team. However, we are committed to continuing contracts with our satellite partners across the state, and are dedicated to supporting additional partners with limited facilitator training as we’re able. We have two full-time Nourish staff dedicated to offering partner support and technical assistance, and we are host regular partner meetings to facilitate more learning and sharing between partners. Cooking Matters will continue to have their online facilitator training materials for anyone interested in delivering Cooking Matters programming through September 2024.
Cooking Matters: If you are interested in providing food skills education to families through your organization please visit the Cooking Matters website to learn more about the Cooking Matters Core. This bundle of 13 lessons with recipes and handouts may be implemented in any combination to provide the flexibility to best meet your communities desires. In addition, the Cooking Matters at Home lessons and other toolkits are available. If you are looking for other food skills education materials, recipes, tips, videos and kids handouts are available at CookingMatters.org.
Other Nutrition Education: The Nourish CO chef team created a book and videos of easy to follow recipes with seasonal produce. We have a recipe book in English, recipe book in Spanish, English recipe videos, and Spanish recipe videos available for use free of cost.
Share our Strength has committed to providing access to all Cooking Matters legacy materials through FFY24, including: Cooking Matters for Adults (CMA), Cooking Matters for Families (CMF), Cooking Matters for Parents (CMP), Cooking Matters for Child Care Professionals (CMCCP), and Cooking Matters at the Store (CMATS). Cooking Matters at Home lesson plans will continue to be available online. All partners needing curriculum in FFY24 should reach out directly to Nourish to access these materials free of cost. The newly released Cooking Matters Core is also available online for download free of cost.