Implementation Guidelines

July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2016

National Sponsor

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Table of Contents

ABOUT SHARE OUR STRENGTH’S COOKING MATTERS -------------------------------- 3

Basic Program Description --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4

Cooking Matters Operating Model ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5

Cooking Matters Program Goals and Principles ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6

Cooking Matters Education Materials ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7 Multi-Session Curricula ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 Cooking Matters at the Store -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 Education Outreach Tools ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8

Resources Provided to Cooking Matters Lead Partners ----------------------------------------------------------------- 10

COOKING MATTERS MANAGEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION --------------------- 12

Education Quality ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13

Program Materials ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13

Eligible Participants ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13

Eligible Instructors ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 14

Liability --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16

Program Implementation Guidelines ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17

Evaluation ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 Course Participant Surveys --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 Course Team End-of-Course Survey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 Cooking Matters at the Store Participant Surveys ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 21

Reporting ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 22

Training and Technical Assistance --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23

Public Relations/Communications Guidance ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24

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SECTION I:

About Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters

This section includes a basic description of the program, operating model, founding goals and principles, program materials, and resources provided to our Lead Partners. We encourage you to use this language when describing the program in your organization’s materials.

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Basic Program Description Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign is ending childhood hunger in America by connecting kids in need with nutritious food and teaching families how to cook healthy, affordable meals, through its Cooking Matters program. Low-income families in America report that cost is their biggest barrier to making a healthy dinner at home. Cooking Matters empowers families to stretch their food budgets so their children get healthy meals. Participants learn to shop smarter, make healthier food choices, and cook delicious, affordable meals. The No Kid Hungry campaign works with community partners to offer Cooking Matters courses, tours and tools across America. Cooking Matters at the Store tours provide participants with hands-on education in the grocery store, giving families the skills to compare foods for cost and nutrition. Chefs and nutrition educators volunteer to teach six-week Cooking Matters courses to kids, parents and other caregivers. More than 80 percent of adult Cooking Matters graduates say they learned to use key food budgeting strategies, such as planning meals ahead of time, comparing prices at the store, or shopping with a list. As graduate Lareese Cathey, a mother receiving Women, Infants and Children (WIC) benefits, says, “Since the class, I can triple the value of my WIC check and feel good about what I’m feeding my kids.” Cooking Matters is nationally sponsored by Walmart. For more information, visit CookingMatters.org.

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Cooking Matters Operating Model In structure and in practice, Cooking Matters is collaborative. Each Cooking Matters program is run by a citywide, regional, or statewide social service agency (the “Lead Partner”). Share Our Strength has a franchise-style relationship with each of these Lead Partners, who run the program according to Share Our Strength’s Guidelines (except in Massachusetts, Maryland and Colorado, where Share Our Strength operates the program directly). Lead Partners then collaborate with other agencies in their community (the “host agencies”) to act as partners in recruiting participants and hosting courses and tours. These sites often include after-school programs, housing programs, Head Start centers, and other agencies that serve low-income families. This model is based on the idea that each party brings their unique expertise and strengths to the relationship. This system of partnerships allows Cooking Matters to leverage its own resources, those of the Lead Partners, and those of the host agencies to offer quality programming to low-income families Share Our Strength, in collaboration with Lead Partner staff, developed Cooking Matters Lead Partner Gold Standards† and will release updated Cooking Matters at the Store Guidelines‡ in 2015. The Cooking Matters Implementation Guidelines provide the baseline requirements of Cooking Matters program implementation and the Gold Standards provide a vision for excellence and characteristics of an ideal Cooking Matters program, as we strive to be the preeminent leader in food skills education. The expectation is these will be used as a reference as Lead Partner organizations operate their Cooking Matters programs. .

†Document(s) available on the Cooking Matters Resource Center.

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Cooking Matters Program Goals and Principles Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters has the following program goals and principles. These should guide your organization as it implements and expands Cooking Matters. Cooking Matters’ goals are:

1. To improve the nutrition knowledge, eating habits, cooking skills, food safety practices, and food resource management skills of people at risk of hunger so they can better provide for themselves and their families.

2. To provide chefs, nutritionists, and other community members with an outlet to

get involved in their communities and to share their skills with people who can benefit from them.

The program was designed and continues to be implemented with the following principles in mind:

The negative health and economic effects of hunger and poor diet can be avoided if families have both the knowledge and skills to shop for and prepare healthy, low-cost meals.

Chefs are valued instructors because of their expertise in food preparation and budgeting as well as their creativity and energy.

Food is to be enjoyed. Those living on a low-income deserve to enjoy their food as well – and need to know how to create food that is delicious, satisfying, and healthy.

Cooking and eating meals as a family is an important social activity.

Volunteering, or sharing our strengths, is a way to create community wealth.

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Cooking Matters Education Materials Cooking Matters provides evidence-based educational materials that are aligned with our program goals and principles. The materials are targeted to a variety of audiences, each of which impact the eating habits of low-income children (such as their families, child care providers, and the children themselves). Multi-Session Curricula Cooking Matters makes six curricula and one curriculum supplement available to our Lead Partners.

Cooking Matters for Adults teaches low-income adults how to prepare and shop sensibly for healthy meals on a limited budget. This curriculum is also available in Spanish (as Cooking Matters para Adults).

Cooking Matters for Parents teaches low-income parents with young children how to prepare and shop sensibly for healthy meals on a limited budget. This curriculum is also available in Spanish (as Cooking Matters para Padres).

Cooking Matters for Kids teaches children in 3rd through 5th grade how to prepare healthy meals and snacks and to make smart choices wherever they go – at school, at home, at the store, or out to eat.

Cooking Matters for Teens teaches adolescents in 6th grade and above how to make healthy food choices and prepare healthy meals and snacks for themselves, their families, and their friends.

Cooking Matters for Families brings school-aged children and their families together to learn about healthy eating, planning meals as a family, and working together in the kitchen. This curriculum is also available in Spanish (as Cooking Matters para Familias).

Cooking Matters for Child Care Professionals teaches child care professionals how to prepare healthy meals and create a healthy food environment for the kids in their care.

Cooking Matters EXTRA for Center-Based Child Care Professionals is a supplement to the Cooking Matters for Child Care Professionals curriculum that focuses on reaching child care professionals working in a center-based versus home-based setting.

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Cooking Matters seeks to ensure that all curricula reflect current research in the field of nutrition education and align with the primary drivers of food decisions made by the target audience. Lead Partners can access the Research Support for Cooking Matters Educational Approach† to learn more about the educational tenets of our curricula. The following schedule highlights recent revisions to the curricula:

2009: Cooking Matters for Families, Cooking Matters for Child Care Professionals, Cooking Matters EXTRA for Parents of Preschoolers, Cooking Matters EXTRA for Wellness

2010: Cooking Matters for Kids, Cooking Matters EXTRA for Diabetes 2011: Cooking Matters for Teens; All books updated to reflect MyPlate, 2010

Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and new Cooking Matters recipe standards 2012: Cooking Matters EXTRA for Center-Based Child Care Professionals 2014: Cooking Matters for Adults 2014: Cooking Matters for Parents

Share Our Strength anticipates updating curricula to reflect new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, likely in 2015.

Cooking Matters at the Store Building on its proven success teaching families how to cook and eat healthy on a budget, Cooking Matters offers single-session grocery store tours to help families make healthy and affordable choices at the supermarket. During a Cooking Matters at the Store tour, participants learn and practice skills that help them understand how to purchase fruits and vegetables on a budget, save money by comparing unit prices, and make healthier choices by reading food labels and ingredient lists.

Cooking Matters at the Store for Adults is a guided grocery store tour that

teaches low-income adults how to get the most nutrition for their food dollars.

Cooking Matters at the Store for WIC Parents offers a similar hands-on learning experience but focuses specifically on parents using the Special Supplement Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

Education Outreach Tools† Share Our Strength offers a number of educational tools and resources, built on the proven success of our signature food skills education courses. Lead Partners can use these toolkits to reach even more families in their community through one-time educational events. Cooking Matters for Chefs and Kids is an easy-to-use guide that helps chefs and others provide hands-on lessons that will help kids develop a love of cooking and the skills to make healthy food choices wherever they go. Within the guide there are a variety of resources to help chefs engage kids, including tips and advice for planning fun activities, materials lists and activity instructions, appealing and interactive recipes for kids, and fun handouts that supplement the lessons of each activity. Exploring Food Together is a toolkit of simple activities that adults can use, in the classroom or in the home, to help young children learn about new foods and start building the skills to make healthy food choices. These field-tested, easy-to-use activities

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center around 5 basic food concepts: food identification and tasting; food purchasing; food preparation; food origins; and food culture. All of the toolkit activities were designed to integrate well with overall curriculum objectives in early childhood education settings. For guidance on using this toolkit see Exploring Food Together Overview and Implementation†. Cooking Matters in Your Community is a guide to leading food-based demonstrations with adults, kids, teens, or families. It can be used in any community by any individual. The guide provides simple instructions for planning and leading a demo and includes tools like checklists, sample outlines, and culinary tips. It also contains a wealth of activities, handouts, and recipes to use at the demo. Cooking Matters in Your Food Pantry is a guide to leading food-based demonstrations in the food pantry setting. It also provides guidance for pantries on how to stock a healthier food pantry. It can be used in any food pantry by any individual. The guide provides simple instructions for planning and leading a demo and includes tools like checklists, sample outlines, and culinary tips. It also contains a wealth of activities, handouts, and recipes to use at the demo. My Plate on a Budget is a guide to help families eat healthy on a limited budget. The guide is full of ideas on how to make healthy and affordable choices within each MyPlate food group. It also contains recipes and cooking tips to make food taste great using the MyPlate guidelines. It can be used by any individual and is a handy resource guide for dietitians, nutritionists and health care professionals. In addition, Cooking Matters offers a series of 1-page handouts full of fun activities and recipes for kids. Each issue has a different theme, focused on healthy eating and cooking. These are great activities for parents, teachers, caregivers, and volunteers to use with the children in their lives. Four handouts are available: Breakfast Boost, Happy Whole-idays, Make Your Plate a Rainbow, and Sugar Shocker.

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Resources Provided to Cooking Matters Lead Partners Share Our Strength offers the following resources to each Lead Partner:

Program Materials: Share Our Strength provides up-to-date curricula, including participant and instructor manuals and incentives, valued at approximately $150 per course and $25 per tour. Share Our Strength also provides select participant incentives, volunteer gifts, and, when available, additional branded materials for in-class use, such as aprons and chop-chop boards. Materials are available, at no charge, to Lead Partners through an online fulfillment site.Other educational tools and resources, including those mentioned above are available for download from the Cooking Matters Resource Center.

Evaluation: Share Our Strength provides program evaluation and reporting services to its Lead Partners, which convey both reach and impact of the program on a local and national scope. These services are vital for continual program improvement as well as help to secure ongoing funding and support for our collective work. To learn more about our evaluation approach and methodology, Lead Partners can access the Cooking Matters Program Evaluation background document† on the Resource Center. Share Our Strength also provides year-end and ad-hoc data analysis and reporting services.

Training and Technical Assistance: Share Our Strength provides extensive training and technical assistance to all Lead Partners, including ongoing support made available through a designated field manager for each Lead Partner. Training and technical assistance is provided to each Lead Partner annually, through ongoing support provided by the designated field manager, regular web-conference training calls, and a multi-day in-person training as part of the No Kid Hungry Partner Summit. For new staff with existing programs, additional training and technical assistance is provided as program infrastructure is built and dependent upon their need.

Cooking Matters Resource Center: Share Our Strength maintains an on-line help and information source so that our Lead Partners have easy access to tools and resources useful in program management. Many of those tools and resources are cross-referenced in these Implementation Guidelines. The Resource Center allows Share Our Strength and Cooking Matters Lead Partners to share and collaborate with one another via discussion threads, a shared calendar, and staff directory.

Cooking Matters Learning Space: Share Our Strength maintains an on-line help and training system that our Lead Partners can use to access additional tour tools and resources, train tour volunteers and partners and participate in tour-related discussion and forums with tour leaders across the country.

AmeriCorps National Direct members: Share Our Strength provides Cooking Matters Lead Partners with the opportunity to host AmeriCorps National Direct members, pursuant to the funds and member slots available to Share Our Strength as a result of the competitive federal grants process with the Corporation for National Service. AmeriCorps members play an integral role in strengthening the capacity of our Lead Partners’ Cooking Matters program expansion and growth. More information about the Cooking Matters AmeriCorps program can be found in the

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various hosting organization, supervisor and member-related guidance documents and manuals†.

Funding Opportunities: As able, Share Our Strength provides Cooking Matters Lead Partners the opportunity to apply for competitive grant funding to support Cooking Matters programming.

Cooking Matters Network: Share Our Strength supports and promotes active collaboration among Cooking Matters Lead Partners through online Resource Center file sharing and discussions, interactive web-conference trainings, and in-person trainings. These opportunities ensure Cooking Matters Lead Partners are able to network and learn from one another. Lead Partners are also encouraged to coordinate visits to each other’s program for peer-to-peer learning.

Share Our Strength Network: Share Our Strength works with hundreds of organizations, thousands of volunteers, dozens of corporations, and the national media. We actively market and promote Cooking Matters on a national level to help raise awareness among all potential stakeholder groups and policy makers, which provides our Lead Partners the opportunity for national exposure.

Share Our Strength Advocacy: Share Our Strength will work with Lead Partners to identify and engage policy influencers in Cooking Matters programming by inviting and hosting them at a class or tour, attending district or statewide meetings or town hall opportunities, hosting a briefing or otherwise promoting national advocacy efforts by inviting members of Congressional staff to policy webinars and promoting constituent-focused policy activities.

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SECTION II:

Cooking Matters Management and Implementation

Cooking Matters Implementation Guidelines have been developed to aid in implementing high-quality programming and meeting the responsibilities outlined in the Program Agreement between Share Our Strength and your organization. Adhering to national standards for Cooking Matters implementation means that a participant in a Cooking Matters course in City A will have a similar experience as a Cooking Matters participant in City B. Following these standards ensures effective, high-quality courses as well as the integrity of our evaluation efforts. Share Our Strength recognizes that local situations vary and appreciates that local innovations can augment and enhance the program. If you would like to deviate from these guidelines for any reason, please discuss with your field manager.

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Education Quality Share Our Strength has a list of key elements, or “gold standards,” that should be present in each Cooking Matters class and tour in effort to make the experience as meaningful as possible for participants. Lead Partners should review the Gold Standards for a Cooking Matters Course† and Gold Standards for a Cooking Matters at the Store Tour† and ensure these standards are achieved and maintained throughout programming. The gold standards are also an appropriate reference for those facilitating one-time education activities and toolkit activities. Program Materials All Cooking Matters curricula and education tools are copyrighted to Share Our Strength: Cooking Matters for Adults (both English and Spanish versions) and its supplements, Cooking Matters for Parents (both English and Spanish versions), Cooking Matters for Kids, Cooking Matters for Teens, Cooking Matters for Families (both English and Spanish versions), Cooking Matters for Child Care Professionals (and its supplement), Cooking Matters at the Store for Adults, Cooking Matters at the Store for WIC Parents, Cooking Matters for Chefs and Kids, Exploring Food Together, Cooking Matters in Your Community, Cooking Matters in Your Food Pantry and our educational handouts for kids. All Cooking Matters education materials (curricula, other program materials, and in-kind donations from Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters sponsors) are to be used exclusively for Cooking Matters programming, and reported in the Database as such. All courses that use Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters curricula, including those run in collaboration with other programs, must be referred to as “Cooking Matters” courses (not just “Cooking Class” or “Nutrition Education,” for example). Share Our Strength manages the procurement of program materials, through an online fulfillment site, at no cost to our Lead Partners. In order to help us responsibly manage these resources, Lead Partners should review and abide by the course material ordering and distribution guidelines explained in the Instructions for Ordering Course Materials†. Additional resources used to accompany the materials and/or market them to external partners, such as fact sheets, lesson previews, sample lesson plans, instructor talking points, and curricula overview charts are available on the Cooking Matters Resource Center. Eligible Participants Participants of any Cooking Matters programming – courses and one-time education events - must be low-income. Lead Partners are allowed to set their own definition of this term. A standard definition is that the participant’s household income is less than 185 percent of the federal poverty guidelines (FPG). Lead Partners do not need to verify income level of participants directly but should use proxy measures to be reasonably sure that they are serving the program’s target population; for instance, the participants are parents of children enrolled at a Head Start center, or the afterschool program is in a neighborhood where 90 percent of the kids receive free or reduced price lunch through the National School Lunch Program.

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Adult participants should be in living situations in which they are primarily (or soon will be) responsible for purchasing and preparing food for themselves and/or their families. Cooking Matters courses should serve an average of at least 10 participants per course. It is recommended that all courses have no fewer than 8 and no more than 15 participants. Cooking Matters programs are expected to maintain an annual graduation rate of at least 85 percent. A Cooking Matters graduate is defined as a participant who attended at least 4 classes of a 6-session course or attended at least 8 of the total 10 hours of training offered for Cooking Matters for Child Care Professionals. A Cooking Matters course participant is one who has attended at least 2 classes in a 6 class course. There is no need to count those who attend just one class in a course, without an intention to complete the entire course. Those who attend only the first class or are “guests” in later classes can be considered “event participants”, or not counted at all. Share Our Strength recommends one facilitator or assistant per 4-6 Cooking Matters at the Store tour participants. This allows tour facilitators to maintain control of larger groups, better facilitate participant questions or hands-on activities, or divide into smaller groups if needed. Eligible Instructors Cooking Matters courses and education outreach tools are designed to be taught by volunteers who share their professional expertise in cooking, nutrition, or food budgeting. Lead Partners are responsible for recruiting, training and managing a corps of qualified instructors and facilitators sufficient to meet their programming needs. Lead Partners also assume responsibility for monitoring and providing ongoing coaching to volunteers in effort to ensure high-quality programming that meets participants where they are. Multi-Session Courses Cooking Matters courses should ideally be taught by at least two instructors, a qualified culinary instructor and a qualified nutrition instructor. Every attempt possible should be made to ensure that the same team of instructors teaches the entire course. All curricula require a qualified culinary instructor to lead the cooking session. The standard qualifications for culinary instructors is that they 1) are either a graduate of or enrolled in a two year culinary training program or 2) have at least two years of professional experience working as a cook or chef. Because the courses are designed to be taught by culinary professionals, the curricula do not detail cooking and kitchen safety topics because they assume that chefs bring and offer that expertise. Nutrition instructors should serve as co-instructors for all of the curricula. The standard qualification for nutrition instructors is that they are a graduate of or enrolled in an accredited, science-based undergraduate or graduate nutrition program.

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Beyond meeting the standard qualifications above, Lead Partners should ensure all volunteer instructors have participated in an orientation to the Program before they lead a course. Cooking Matters orientation should include at a minimum: background on Share Our Strength, Cooking Matters and the Lead Partner organization; impact of Cooking Matters; various volunteer roles; what volunteers can expect from the Coordinator; what the Coordinator expects of volunteers; introduction to the program materials; how to create a learner-centered, hands-on environment, and introduction to the Gold Standards for a Cooking Matters Course† including practice with facilitated dialogue techniques and strategies to team teach. Lead Partners can also download, and modify with specific local program information, the Volunteer Training Toolkit† Template Volunteer Orientation PowerPoint† Cooking Matters at the Store Tours Cooking Matters at the Store tour facilitators can come from a wide range of engaged community members, health, and culinary professionals. We recommend that tour facilitators have a strong background or experience in food budgeting, nutrition, or food preparation or have worked closely with your target audience (e.g. Extension agent). Since Cooking Matters at the Store for WIC Parents focuses specifically on the WIC food package, in addition to the qualifications above, facilitators should have strong knowledge of their state’s WIC food package. See the Cooking Matters at the Store Gold Standards for a Cooking Matters at the Store Tour† and forthcoming updated Cooking Matters at the Store Guidelines† for additional guidance about identifying facilitators, planning tours, and training tour facilitators. Education Outreach Tools Share Our Strength’s toolkits - designed as one-time education activities - are ideal for volunteers not able to commit to a full 6-week course or to introduce them to Cooking Matters. We offer the following instructor qualifications for each toolkit:

Exploring Food Together: This toolkit is ideally used by caretakers of young kids, including early childhood/Head Start educators, child care providers, community nutritionists, culinary professionals, Extension agents, and environmental educators serving families in need. Parents may also be trained to implement these activities at home.

Cooking Matters for Chefs and Kids: Instructors could be chefs, cooks or other interested parties who have experience providing hands-on cooking instruction to children.

Cooking Matters in Your Community: Instructors can be any willing community member from school teachers and church leaders, to athletic coaches and PTA parents. It is helpful but not necessary for instructors to have a background in cooking or nutrition. Sufficient guidance is provided for anyone interested in leading these activities.

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Cooking Matters in Your Pantry: Instructors can be any willing community member who works with food pantries. It is helpful but not necessary for instructors to have a background in cooking or nutrition.

Liability Lead Partners are responsible for ensuring that all course participants, guests, and volunteers complete a liability waiver, provided by Share Our Strength. Waivers release Share Our Strength, its Lead Partners, representatives, employees, volunteers and any sponsors of Cooking Matters from any damages, causes of action and liability that might arise from program participation. Lead Partners are also responsible for following basic processes and procedures for verifying that waivers have been completed and retaining this documentation for 3 years at their facilities. Share Our Strength provides template waivers† in Spanish and English. Lead Partners are responsible for updating these templates to include the name of their organization. These same waivers can be used for volunteers and participants in one-time education events. If partners, media and those affiliated with programming would like to take pictures or record video during programming, please have each participant, guest or volunteer complete a media release form. The Template Participation Waiver and Media Release Forms can be downloaded from the Resource Center.

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Program Implementation Guidelines Standard policy for Cooking Matters Lead Partners includes a requirement to offer a minimum of 20 courses per program year. If for any reason your organization is unable to meet that requirement, please reach out to your Field Manager to discuss your 2016 partnership. All programming offered should adhere to the Gold Standards for a Cooking Matters Course† and Cooking Matters at the Store Tour† and meet average class size and graduation rate targets, as outlined in this document. Courses Every effort must be made to ensure adherence to Gold Standards for a Cooking Matters Course† and that all lesson objectives are met throughout each Cooking Matters course. It is not expected that all lesson activities will be covered in every session; however, in order to qualify as a Cooking Matters course, the curriculum must be implemented without any substantial abridgements. The defining feature of Cooking Matters courses is the chef-led participatory cooking sessions. Chef instructors are encouraged to use recipes from the curricula but Lead Partners have the option of using recipes authored or suggested by instructors. Recipes brought in must follow the recipe guidelines, found in each instructor guide. Access to a kitchen should be considered when selecting a site for a course. Adequate hand-washing facilities must be available. Lead Partners should offer a minimum of two types of Cooking Matters curricula annually, but are able to choose which best meet the needs of their community. Please note curriculum-specific guidelines below: Cooking Matters for Parents

Participants must be low-income parents of young children. Parents and other caregivers of young children are the curriculum’s target audience, but pregnant teens are eligible candidates for this curriculum too.

Courses should be held weekly over a 6-week period. Each session should be 2 hours long.

Lessons 1 through 4 must include a chef-led participatory food preparation session with sufficient groceries for participants to make and eat a serving of two to three recipes during class. If the site does not have a kitchen or you are unable to use it, you will need to ensure that hot plates, portable stoves or induction burners are available to provide a cooking experience during at least 2 weeks.

During Lessons 1 through 4, participants must be provided with a take-home bag of groceries with the primary ingredients to make at least one recipe at home.

Lesson 5 should include a trip to the grocery store in which participants are given the opportunity to practice their shopping skills and purchase a healthy basket of foods for no more than $10. In special cases where it is not possible to visit the grocery store, a simulated in-class store experience should be substituted.

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Cooking Matters for Adults

Participants must be low-income adults; separate courses are provided for kids and teens. Parents and other caregivers are the curriculum’s target audience, but emancipated teens or those about to be released from foster care are eligible candidates for this curricula too.

Courses should be held weekly over a 6-week period. Each session should be 2 hours long.

Lessons 1 through 4 must include a chef-led participatory food preparation session with sufficient groceries for participants to make and eat a serving of two to three recipes during class. If the site does not have a kitchen or you are unable to use it, you will need to ensure that hot plates, portable stoves or induction burners are available to provide a cooking experience during at least 2 weeks.

During Lessons 1 through 4, participants must be provided with a take-home bag of groceries with the primary ingredients to make at least one recipe at home.

Lesson 5 should include a trip to the grocery store in which participants are given the opportunity to practice their shopping skills and purchase a healthy basket of foods for no more than $10. In special cases where it is not possible to visit the grocery store, a simulated in-class store experience should be substituted.

Cooking Matters for Child Care Professionals

Participants must be child care providers that are low-income or caring for children from low-income families. Child care providers caring for and preparing food for children between the ages of 1 and 5 are the curriculum’s target audience.

Each course must include at least 10 hours of training; the number and timing of the sessions is flexible.

Each session must include a chef-led participatory food preparation session with sufficient groceries for participants to make and eat a serving of at least two recipes during class. If the site does not have a kitchen or you are unable to use it, you will need to ensure that hot plates, portable stoves or induction burners are available to provide a cooking experience during at least 2 modules.

At the end of each session (or day of the training), participants must be provided with a take-home bag of groceries with the primary ingredients to make at least one recipe at home.

Cooking Matters for Kids

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Participants must be children in 3rd through 5th grade who are members of a low-income household.

Courses should be held weekly over a 6-week period. Each session should be 2 hours long.

All lessons must include a chef-led participatory cooking session with sufficient groceries for participants to make and eat a serving of one to three recipes in class.

This curriculum does not require that participants take home bags of groceries, though Lead Partners are welcome to provide them if they would like.

Cooking Matters for Teens

Participants must be adolescents in 6th grade or higher who are members of a low-income household.

Courses should be held weekly over a 6-week period. Each session should be 2 hours long.

All lessons must include a chef-led participatory cooking session with sufficient groceries for participants to make and eat a serving of two to three recipes in class. If the site does not have a kitchen or you are unable to use it, you will need to ensure that hot plates, portable stoves or induction burners are available to provide a cooking experience during at least 2 weeks.

During Lessons 1 through 5, it is recommended that participants be provided with a take-home bag of groceries with the primary ingredients to make at least one recipe at home.

Lesson 5 should include a trip to the grocery store, where participants are given the opportunity to learn and practice their shopping skills and their healthy decision-making. If the lesson is not done at the store a simulated in-class store experience should be substituted.

Cooking Matters for Families

Participants should be parent-child pairs, with ideally 1 school-age child (age 6 and older) and their low-income parent and/or caregiver.

Courses should be held weekly over a 6-week period. Each session should be 2 hours long.

All lessons must include a chef-led participatory cooking session with sufficient groceries for families to make and eat a serving of two to three recipes in class. If the site does not have a kitchen or you are unable to use it, you will need to ensure that hot plates, portable stoves or induction burners are available to provide a cooking experience during at least 2 weeks.

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During Lessons 1 through 5, each family must be provided with a take-home bag of groceries with the primary ingredients to make at least one recipe at home.

Evaluation Share Our Strength provides evaluation services for our Cooking Matters Lead Partners. The results are compiled by the Share Our Strength and are used to communicate impact, secure funding, and identify areas for improvement on both national and local levels. Share Our Strength categorizes evaluation in two main ways, described below. Course Enrollment and Participant Surveys Measuring the changes graduates experience as a result of the Cooking Matters program is critical to assessing effectiveness and communicating program impact. To ensure the information collected is accurate, Lead Partners are responsible for:

Ensuring that all Cooking Matters course participants complete Share Our Strength-provided† enrollment forms and participant surveys corresponding to the education material they receive

Administering the survey as outlined in the Survey Administration Guide† that corresponds to the curricula.

Completing the “For Staff Use Only” section of each participant survey.

Completing template survey cover sheet†, provided by Share Our Strength, and returning the enrollment forms and surveys by mail to Share Our Strength within one week of course completion.

Closing out the corresponding course record in the Cooking Matters Database, according to the Cooking Matters Database Guidelines†.

Course Team End-of-Course Survey The End-of-Course Survey is completed by the course team (instructors, support volunteers, and course site staff) and collects feedback on their experience regarding the course. It is used to guide national and local level trainings and resource development. To ensure that course teams receive the end-of-course survey, Lead Partners are responsible for:

Adding all course team members to the course record in the database when the course is scheduled.

Ensuring that volunteer and course site staff Database records contain accurate email addresses.

Closing course records in the database within one week of the last class to ensure all volunteers and site staff receive the automatically generated email/survey link promptly.

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Additional instructions on how to properly administer or ensure these surveys are distributed, as well as information on Cooking Matters’ method for evaluating behavioral change can be found on the Cooking Matters Resource Center. Tour Participant Surveys Cooking Matters at the Store tour participants complete an enrollment form and a two-page post-tour survey†. Lead Partners are responsible for:

Ensuring that Cooking Matters tour participants complete Share Our Strength-provided† enrollment forms and participant surveys corresponding to the education material they receive

Completing the “For Staff Use Only” section of each participant survey.

Completing template survey cover sheet†, provided by Share Our Strength, and returning the enrollment forms and surveys by mail to Share Our Strength within one week of course completion.

Closing out the corresponding course record in the Cooking Matters Database, according to the Cooking Matters Database Guidelines†.

As specified by Share our Strength, some Lead Partners with a large number of projected tour participants will adopt a survey sampling strategy, in which tour participant enrollment and surveys will be collected and processed only for a subset of tours. Lead Partners with tours not-surveyed will submit a Tour Reporting Form provided by Share our Strength †, in lieu of the usual survey cover sheet, to Share Our Strength. Tours not-surveyed must still be closed out in the Cooking Matters Database according to the Cooking Matters Database Guidelines†. Education Outreach Tools There is no formal evaluation tool for Cooking Matters in Your Community, Exploring Food Together, Cooking Matters Chefs and Kids, or Cooking Matters in Your Food Pantry.

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Reporting Share Our Strength produces comprehensive year-end reviews detailing the activities and impact of Cooking Matters on the national and local levels. These reports are useful for tracking progress, quantifying success, and communicating impact with volunteers, agencies, and donors. In addition to annual reports, we are happy to provide an ad-hoc data request service, should you need activity and outcome reports in alternative formats or at other times throughout the program year. Please complete and send a Data Request† to the Measurement, Planning, and Analysis Coordinator no later than 4 weeks before you need the data. We require Lead Partners to regularly input information regarding key metrics of their Cooking Matters program into the Cooking Matters Database. Lead Partners are responsible for entering the following information in the Cooking Matters Database. For more detail, please see the Database Guidelines† that provide more explanation of the fields/data points summarized below.

Course records. A course record should be created in the database within one week of being scheduled, and should be closed, by completing all required fields in the course record, within one week of the end date. Cooking Matters at the Store tours should be entered as a “Tour” course record type.

One-time educational events. An educational event occurs when program content, including toolkits, is provided to Cooking Matters target audience outside of a normal course setting. It is important to enter these events to get an accurate picture of the number of people Cooking Matters reaches with its content and materials.

Volunteer and staff trainings. A record should be created for all training sessions and information including the names of attendees should be captured.

Partnering organizations. Information on the agencies that support your program, you work with to reach eligible course participants, deliver Cooking Matters courses and the places where you hold courses should be captured and kept up-to-date.

Volunteers, staff, and AmeriCorps members. The names and contact information of the volunteers, staff, and AmeriCorps members should be entered and kept up-to-date in the database so their contributions and connection to your program can be tracked and contact information be kept up to date.

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Qualitative impact complements the quantitative data gathered through participant surveys and the Database, providing a holistic picture of Cooking Matters’ impact on local and national levels. This information is used in annual reports, and is included in Share Our Strength’s communications to actively market and promote Cooking Matters. To assist in raising awareness among all potential stakeholder groups, Lead Partners should make every effort to provide the following information to Share Our Strength:

Quotes or Stories from volunteers and participants. All Lead Partners are asked to submit to Share Our Strength stories from participants or volunteers who have been involved in the program and/or rely on national nutrition programs. Stories should be sent to Tali Caiazza at tcaiazza@strength.org (copying your program’s Field Manager), ideally once in the spring and one in the fall. Please ensure that you have a signed media release for any participants or volunteers featured.

Training and Technical Assistance Share Our Strength provides ongoing training and technical assistance to support your efforts to achieve Gold Standards for a Cooking Matters Lead Partner†, to implement gold-standard courses and tours and achieve high-quality program expansion. Lead Partners are responsible for attending and actively participating in Cooking Matters training and collaboration opportunities including, but not limited to:

Regular web-conference training calls. Throughout the year, Share Our Strength makes important programmatic announcements, and conducts short trainings with Lead Partners via 1 hour web-conference training calls. Each Lead Partner is responsible for ensuring their Cooking Matters team is represented with at least one person participating in the call. Logistics for participating in the calls and archived slides with notes from past calls can be found on the Resource Center calendar.

Semiannual calls. Share Our Strength requires that Lead Partners participate in an update and assessment call with their Field Manager and additional staff from Share Our Strength as appropriate, twice a year. We use this time to touch base with our partners, better understand their recent challenges and successes, review progress against goals, and to answer questions about work at the national level. The Cooking Matters Coordinator’s supervisor is encouraged to participate in both calls, and required to participate in at least one.

In-person training. Each year Share Our Strength brings together Cooking Matters staff from around the country to engage with one another and share best practices, lessons learned, program resources and more. The overarching goal of this in-person the No Kid Hungry Partner Convening is to increase adoption of effective strategies to decrease childhood hunger. Lead Partner staff and AmeriCorps members that attend are expected to actively participate.

One-on-one Communications. Share Our Strength staff is available by phone and email to respond to specific needs and concerns from each Lead Partner. In addition, Share Our Strength may make information requests of Lead Partners. These requests might include, but are not limited to: annual lead partner survey, inventory reports, annual projections, feedback on program materials, and registration for semi-annual calls. Timely responses from both parties ensure the maintenance of a mutually productive and respectful relationship.

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Site Visits. Share Our Strength values in-person communications and specific arrangements for site visits will be made with Lead Partners on an as-needed basis by a member of the Share Our Strength national staff. If Lead Partner staff are ever traveling in or through the DC area, they are encouraged and welcome to visit Share Our Strength’s office and meet with national staff.

Public Relations/Communications Guidance Share Our Strength provides guidance and support to Cooking Matters Lead Partners on communications as needed. Lead Partners should adhere to the Cooking Matters Official Messaging Guidelines† and Cooking Matters Brand Usage Guidelines†. Share Our Strength and its Cooking Matters Lead Partners communicate with a wide audience comprised of both internal and external stakeholders. It is important to use a consistent voice and message that resonates with our core audiences and is easily recognizable as an expression of our brand personality. Both our written, online and spoken communications should always support our mission -- to empower people to eat healthier and make the best use of their food resources. Written, online or spoken communications bearing the Cooking Matters logo or representing the Cooking Matters program should be positive and empowering in nature.