Cooking Matters

Empowering Families with Food Budgeting Skills

The Food Bank of North Central Arkansas partners with Share Our Strength as part of the No Kid Hungry campaign to provide Cooking Matters® classes. These classes teach participants how to shop smarter, make healthier choices, and cook nutritious meals on a limited budget, ensuring their children get the nutrition they need at home. The six-week hands-on classes are tailored to different age groups and provide long-term solutions to hunger and poor nutrition.

If you’re interested in joining a class or hosting one for your group, please fill out the information request form.

Cooking Matters at the Store

Choosing Healthier Foods with Cooking Matters at the Store

From fresh to frozen or canned, store brands to premium brands, there’s a lot to consider when making healthy food choices. Cooking Matters at the Store, a free grocery store tour offered as part of the Cooking Matters for Adults course, helps participants learn basic skills for fun and economical grocery shopping. Led by trained facilitators at local supermarkets, participants learn and practice key food shopping skills such as buying fruits and vegetables on a budget, comparing unit prices, reading food labels, and identifying whole grain foods.

Getting Ahead

Getting Ahead classes are offered for people who want to make the most of their resources. It’s about building economic stability for ourselves and a better future for our community.

Identify and build your resources.
Learn life skills for success.
Create your future story.

Bridges

Bridges Out of Poverty

People struggling with poverty for a moment or for generations spend much of their time in survival mode. Gaining a deeper understanding of their challenges and strengths will help you partner with them to create opportunities for success.

Bridges Training

Bridges Training helps community leaders understand the people they serve. It addresses poverty and hunger at the individual, community and policy levels and brings significant, lasting impacts to individuals, businesses, organizations and communities.

Three-hour or eight-hour training session.
Day-and-a-half session (includes Poverty Simulation).

Poverty Simulations

Experience firsthand what it means to struggle with poverty and hunger. Assume the roles of up to 26 families facing a variety of challenging but typical circumstances.

Three-hour simulation
Day-and-a-half session (includes Bridges Training).

Empowering Families with Food Budgeting Skills

Cooking Matters at the Store

Getting Ahead

Bridges

Poverty Simulations

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