Hello Everyone!
Stacie Archer, my partner in our non-profit, ‘Get Cooking’ and I are happy to provide and update on our progress and share this beautiful video as well!
Stacie is tirelessly working to help find more ways to extend our mission. for more information on that please go to our website
Now we’d like to share some statistics that give us great hope and fill us with gratitude for the many kind hearted folks who also make this all possible.
-Nearly 600 families (2,400 individuals) have benefited from our program since we first started teaching virtual cooking classes in March 2024 at Valencia’s College of Hospitality and Culinary Arts.
-‘Get Cooking’ has grown its monthly participation in its virtual classes among food insecure families associated with Community Partnership Schools/Title 1 public schools to an average of 70 families per month with a goal of reaching 100 families by the end of 2025.
SURVEY RESULTS: (‘Get Cooking’ has collected data over the course of nine months (March-December) through pre and post class surveys.)
– “How often to you cook dinner at home each week?” March families reported an average of 1.4 times. Families having participated in a class repeated times reported in December that now they are cooking dinner at home an average of 3.5 times per week.
– “How often were you eating fast food or prepared foods per week?” March results were averaging 5 times per week. December results lowered to an average of 3.1 times per week.
– “How often are you eating dinner as a family per week?” March results were averaging 2.2 times while December results show an average of 3.5 times per week.
‘Get Cooking’ is achieving its goal to get families to cook more healthy dinners at home, limit the amount of fast food/highly processed dinners and spend more time together around the dinner table. Other notable results from our surveys indicate 1) that 63% of class attendees report making a class recipe again on their own while 35% intend to do so, 2) the primary reasons for joining the class were to eat healthier (43%), spend more time with their kids (29%), develop better cooking skills (14%), and save money on food (14%).
In two sentences:
‘Get Cooking’ works with food insecure families to teach them how to budget, shop and cook a healthy dinner for a family of four for under $20. We seek to change the mindset that eating healthy is expensive and tastes less exciting by offering interactive classes that excite and inspire nutritious eating. Our teachers are professional chefs who are the culinary superstars of Orlando. They give their time and expertise free of charge. Each month we feature another chef so our program is always expanding their repertoire. And though they are pros they all understand that the recipes will be affordable and they can be made in a home that is not filled with fancy tools, nor do the families have spare time. Each minute matters. But… the family members, mostly (by far) mothers and their children cook together!
A further description for how we do it:
We are unique because our classes are taught VIRTUALLY and IN REAL TIME by award-winning chefs, allowing families to learn hands-on in their own home kitchens. By teaching these families where they live, instructing them on how to use their own kitchen tools and appliances, we are letting them develop the confidence that they can re-create this recipe again on their own. We are also giving families the chance to interact with the chef, ask questions, repeat instructions as we are with them step by step as they prepare dinner. As you can see, Get Cooking is not another demo class or produced cooking video. It’s real hands-on learning in the truest sense.
Please watch the video and go to our website. We can answer questions there. Thank You!