Learn planning and shopping strategies to help you prepare nutritious, affordable meals through one of our hands-on Cooking Matters courses. These six-week courses cover nutrition principles, meal planning, shopping tips and cooking activities, and include a bag of groceries for participants to take home at the end of each class.
Participation is free, and limited to SNAP-eligible audiences. Read more to find out which Cooking Matters course is right for you.
- Cooking Matters for Adults provides smart shopping and food preparation tips to adults on limited budgets.
- Cooking Matters for Families brings parents and their school-aged children together in the classroom to learn how to plan and prepare quick, healthy meals at home.
- Cooking Matters for Parents focuses on helping caregivers of young children learn to create a healthy home food environment on a limited budget.
- Cooking Matters for Childcare Providers teaches childcare professionals how to prepare healthy meals and create a healthy food environment for the kids in their care. Provides clock hours for licensed Missouri providers.
- Cooking Matters at Home provides more flexibility by offering live Cooking Matters classes from the comfort of your home. These classes are conducted over Zoom, and participants are encouraged to cook alongside the instructor.
Host a Course
MU Extension’s Nutrition and Health Education Specialists partner with local agencies around the state to provide Cooking Matters classes to Missouri families living on a budget.
Our typical host agencies meet the following criteria:
- Serves families within 185% of the poverty level who are able to cook at home or are working towards self-sufficiency.
- Has space and facilities to accommodate 12-15 participants.
- Has a kitchen or large open space with tables or counter space appropriate for food preparation.