Cooking really does matter.
In Colorado there are two extremes when it comes to food and nutrition. Its either too much or not enough, and its no different when it comes to kids.
In Bethany Carrigers Family and Consumer Science class at Montezuma-Cortez High School, students are not only learning how to prepare foods economically, theyre learning how to do it in a consumer-wise, healthy manner thats educational and fun as well.
Ive never seen students so excited, Carriger said. They really feel like they can experiment.
She has teamed up with the folks from the LiveWell Montezumas Cooking Matters program to show students how to really cook and make a difference in their health, simply by the foods they eat.
According to their website, LiveWell promotes healthy eating and Cooking Matters helps families and students help themselves by teaching them how to prepare healthy low cost meals.
On the last day of the latest Cooking Matters class, students were busy sharing duties like making sauce, dicing onions, kneading dough and crumbling cheese. This days menu consisted of healthy pizza with natural ingredients.
JoDee Powers is the project coordinator for LiveWell, and she said her background in sustainable living and local foods means this program is right up her alley.
Its a lot about how to shop for unprocessed foods, Powers said. Its about how to read labels.
Powers said the program is divided into two parts: nutrition and food preparation.
Powers got involved when she wrote the LiveWell grant for area schools. Grant monies come from parent organization LiveWell Colorado.
Our organization decided we really wanted to focus on health and foods in the community and the schools, Powers said. Then I learned about Cooking Matters and what it can do for people.
Powers brought in LiveWell nutritional coordinator Kelly Proctor for the task of running the Cooking Matters programs. They both agree that it has been a great success.
Proctor said her mission is reducing obesity and hunger in Colorado.
It really bothers me that kids go hungry here, she said. Some kids are on free and reduced lunch, and some kids arent. Just because a family has money doesnt mean theyre eating healthy.
One in five children in Colorado experience hunger or malnutrition, and 13.4 percent of households are at risk of hunger, according to LiveWells data. On the other end of the spectrum in Colorado, one of the leanest states in the U.S., one in five is obese, according to the Colorado Health Foundation. That number has doubled since 1995.
Proctor also said that when youths learn the importance of diet and nutrition and how to apply it, they take it with them for the rest of their lives.
When you put a teenager up on a soap box, its so powerful, she said. And to get these kids thinking about healthy eating, its not going to stop. A lot of these kids are talking about nutrition to their friends and families. Its really going to spread the word.
To add flavor to the cultivation of young culinary artists, the program brings in local culinary talent, like chef Todd Halnier from Neros Restaurant and Brandon Schubert from Stonefish, to give the students a dash of professional advice.
High school sophomore Krista Wynes said she likes the spicy perks of the course. She stirred marinara while she talked about the program highlights.
Its a lot of fun having people that arent your teachers come in, Wynes said, paying close attention to the simmering sauce. But my favorite part is the stuff you can take home. Ive cooked a couple of times for my parents.
According to Proctor, the program provides students with cooking supplies like cutting boards and measuring cups, lunch bags and spatulas. The students also get groceries to take home and cook for practice.
In Montezuma County, the program has served 94 students and 12 adults, according to Proctor. Each class costs about $5,000, but because of grants the local programs are free. For the state, Cooking Matters coordinated 170 courses that reached more than 2,100 families.
Whatever the case, the aroma of garlic, sausage and tomato sauce filled the halls of the high school.
Senior Caleb Branson said he has learned about diet and health and the way the food he eats effects it.
I like that we get to look at foods in a different way that were used to, Branson said as he washed the dishes waiting for his groups pizza to finish cooking. I love to cook, and now Im cautious about what we put into our foods.
Reach Brandon Mathis at [email protected].
