Share Our Strength, the national sponsor of the Cooking
Matters program, recently completed a study showing the long-term impact of
Cooking Matters courses, and Good Shepherd Food Bank’s program in Maine was one
of the geographic areas included in the study.
In 2015, Share Our Strength worked with Altarum Institute,
an independent health systems research organization, to conduct the first-ever
long-term study of the program. Proving what we have heard from
participants for years, the analysis found that Cooking Matters has a powerful,
sustained impact that is significantly greater than changes that would have
occurred without intervention. After learning Cooking Matters strategies,
the study found that families have a more positive attitude about cooking,
leading them to cook more often; are eating and making healthier, more
budget-friendly meals; and are more confident that they’ll be able to stretch
their food dollars each month.
Because so many of our hunger-relief partners have offered
information on or hosted Cooking Matters classes, we wanted to share
information about the study outcomes with you.
It’s so gratifying to know that the effort put forth by families and
individuals to learn about healthy eating on a budget results in habit changes that last. If you are interested in the details
of the study, here are links to the study
brochure and executive
summary.
This study is solid affirmation of the power of the Cooking
Matters program. Great job to Good Shepherd Food Bank’s Cooking Matters
team and to our host sites for taking part in the study and for what you do
every day in your work!
Are you interested in knowing more about Cooking
Matters? Be in touch with Program
Manager Courtney Kennedy at ckennedy@gsfb.org
or (207) 577-4847.