Friday, July 8, 2022

WSDA “Cook WA” pilot program encourages home cooking

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.

A volunteer hands a CookWA
reusable shopping bag to a food pantry customer.
In the heat of summer in Wenatchee, Chelan Douglas Community Action Council Food Distribution Center volunteers set up the weekly food distribution tables and begin cooking a meal for taste testing – looking to help solve the healthy-tasty-dinner problem for local families. When food pantry visitors stop by and get pantry items May through July, they will also receive a reusable shopping bag full of the meal ingredients and a recipe card to make the demonstration meal on their own.

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.

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.

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.