Amber Betts
WSDA Communications
As a mom, I know one of the most stressful questions my kids ask is, “What’s for dinner?”
Let’s face it, we’re busy, and it’s hard to come
up with creative, healthy, and delicious meals that everyone will eat – every.
single. day. Add financial and food access barriers and it could seem nearly
impossible at times.
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| A volunteer hands a CookWA reusable shopping bag to a food pantry customer. |
This food pantry organization is one of 12 including a tribal partner, participating in the WSDA Food Assistance pilot program Cook WA. This program was designed to provide Washington families access to locally sourced ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes aimed at incorporating more fruits and veggies to the day’s diet. In addition to the produce, spices and sauces are added to the mix to improve taste and flavor, while taking dinner tables across the globe with flavors used in different parts of the world.
The idea launched this summer was born out of a goal to meet the needs of low-income Washington families, created with families in mind who know the struggle of meal planning.
A
2019 study showed 77 percent of Washington state Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP)-eligible adults, and 82 percent of youth in
SNAP-eligible families consumed less than the recommended five servings of
fruits and vegetables per day.
The first step to creating the Cook WA program and getting
more produce on plates was to determine what ingredients were available across
the state at local farms and through The Emergency Food Assistance Program
(TEFAP). With this knowledge in hand, chefs around the state agreed to help
create the recipes. The chefs include: The Governor’s Executive Mansion Chef,
Quan Hoang, Frank Magana of Three Magnets Brewing in Olympia, Melissa Davis at
WSU Extension Thurston and Lewis counties, and Elizabeth Campbell of the
Squaxin Island Tribe. The goal in creating these recipes was to remove barriers
to home cooking that some may experience. Some of those barriers identified by
the WSDA team included accessibility to sauces and spices, a lack of basic
cooking techniques, and the regular stress of meal planning and cooking.
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| One of the several recipes in the arsenal of the Cook WA meal kit toolkit. |
While food pantries offer access to foods and ingredients,
preparing a complete, nutritious, and tasty meal can be challenging for individuals
facing food insecurity. A recent study found that food pantry clients were
three times as likely to select targeted healthier food options (kale and whole
grains) when recipe tastings and meal kits were available, compared to when
neither was provided. Providing a meal kit with a tasting of the recipe doubled
the selection of the targeted healthier food options when compared to providing
the tasting alone. WSDA is surveying clients as part of the Cook WA pilot, and
so far, 50 percent of respondents say the meal kits help them eat more fruits
and vegetables. WSDA Food Assistance had recipes translated into six languages
to further remove barriers to healthy, nutritious meals.
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| Each step of the recipe was displayed as part of the cooking demonstration. |
In addition to finding fresh ingredients directly from
Washington farms, the WSDA Food Access team also worked to provide access to locally
made sauces and spices to provide in the meal kits as well.
Some of the recipes include favorites like chicken pineapple
coconut curry, Italian pasta and chickpea stew, roasted huckleberry chicken
with kale salad, and bison and butternut squash chili.
These recipes and tool kits are also available on WSDA’s Food Access webpage.