Cooking Matters Training Videos Now Available

Posted by Alicia McCabe on Monday, August 8, 2011

There is 1 reader comment. Read it and add yours.

For the last five years I have had the privilege of working alongside some truly amazing individuals who volunteer countless hours teaching Cooking Matters courses in Massachusetts. These volunteers bring their enthusiasm and passion along with a wealth of nutrition and culinary information to share with our participants. I am constantly amazed by the commitment our volunteers make and I feel a strong sense of responsibility to honor that commitment by providing the training and support they deserve in order to be successful.

Teaching a Cooking Matters course is always rewarding, but it isn’t always easy. How do you explain the Nutrition Facts Panel to teenager in a way that keeps their attention and makes it seem relevant to their lives? How do you make sure that all 120 fingers that are busily cutting up vegetables for lasagna remain safe? And, while the theory of a chef and a nutritionist co-instructing seems like a great idea, what does it actually look like in practice?

We talk about these things during our trainings and provide feedback after each class, but there is really no substitute for seeing it in action. That’s why for the last three years I have wished for a collection of short videos that could help provide context for our volunteers—let them see different classes in action and learn some of the best practices from fellow volunteers. Not only did I want these videos for my volunteers in Massachusetts, but I wanted all Cooking Matters volunteers across the country to be able to access them. This vision was finally able to become a reality through the generous support of the Ward Family Foundation who provided funding for a series of eight training videos.

Who knew that filming for eight 5-minute volunteer training videos would take five days, 9 locations, 15 hours of set-up, 9 hours of break-down, 25+ hours of filming classes, 20+ individual interviews, a van packed with film equipment, a car packed with class equipment, a producer, a cinematographer, a sound technician, and a production assistant? We filmed six of or our regular classes and created three additional “mock” classes so that we could be a bit more particular about trying to capture certain things on film. Those three classes involved 8 different volunteers and 20+ returning graduates hearing “that was perfect! Now just say that all again …” more times than you possibly imagine.

A few months of editing later and we know have eight amazing videos that are as compelling as they are instructive. I hope you’ll watch them with an appreciation for how amazing our volunteers are and how transformative these courses can be.