Community Food Education supports the health and wellbeing of communities experiencing poverty. We educate kids and adults about growing, buying, cooking, and eating nutritious foods. To further support this, we help make local, institutional changes that support the health of communities we work with, and center food as a tool to build community and work towards social justice.
Topics on this page:
COOKING MATTERS
Cooking Matters provides a six-week class series on healthy cooking skills, nutrition education and food budgeting for adults, teens and families living on low incomes.
Held at over 30 host sites in the greater Seattle and Washington state areas, each class is led by a team of three trained volunteers – Cooking Facilitator, Nutrition Facilitator, and Class Assistant – who work alongside a staff coordinator to facilitate fun, lively, interactive and informative classes. Participants engage in educational activities and help prepare a shared meal.
Cooking Matters is a partnership of Solid Ground, the national anti-hunger organization Share Our Strength, and the No Kid Hungry Campaign.
Bring Cooking Matters to Your Organization!
Bring Cooking Matters classes to your community-based or nonprofit organization in Seattle, King County and beyond.
Current Cooking Matters Satellite Partners: Click below to access all the resources and information you need to host a successful Cooking Matters program. (This page is password protected; if you are a satellite partner and need the password, contact cooking@solid-ground.org.)
FARM-BASED EDUCATION
Marra Farm Giving Garden
Since 1996, Solid Ground has cultivated a 3/4-acre Giving Garden on historic urban farmland at Marra Farm in the South Park neighborhood. Each year, community members, volunteers and staff grow thousands of pounds of fresh, organic produce there. All the produce grown stays in the South Park community, nourishing residents via food banks, meal programs, health clinics, and other organizations.
Education
We host vibrant gardening, nutrition and environmental education programs for young people including hands on field trips that engage the senses. We prioritize offering these opportunities to schools and organizations who serve a high percentage of students living on low incomes and are proud to be able to do so free of charge for these groups.
YOUTH EDUCATION
Solid Ground partners with elementary schools, after school programs, and community centers to engage students in interactive cooking, nutrition and gardening lessons. We work in communities and schools disproportionally impacted by the inequities of our current food system, engaging students in conversations around food security, food justice, and the farm to table system. We recognize that no one is too young to become an advocate, so we intentionally create opportunities for learning and developing a sense of ownership of the food system.
Our lessons aim to foster positive experiences around food and nutrition, providing space for students to directly see, touch and taste nutritious foods as they prepare recipes together. To further engage families in this work, we host Family Market Night events for elementary school students and their families to learn about the food system together.
Current Community Food Education Volunteers
Click below for information on upcoming opportunities for trained Community Food Education (CFE) volunteers. (This page is for current CFE volunteers; if you want to get onboarded, please contact volunteers@solid-ground.org.)
