Kettering Health offers free, physician-led cooking classes at the Cedarville Fire Department every week. Now, in year four of a five-year grant, the classes provide rural residents hands-on training in healthy meal preparation. Funded by over $1.9 million in grant funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, these classes are part of the “Empowering Families” arm of the grant, which aims to provide rural community members with the tools to create healthier lifestyles through nutrition-focused cooking skills. Using the American College of Lifestyle Medicine culinary medicine curriculum, participants learn skills like safe food handling, knife techniques, and how to create meals that support the management of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer.
Why we did it
Kettering Health launched these classes as part of an initiative to support rural communities by addressing chronic diseases through better nutrition. Many rural residents have limited access to healthy food and nutrition education. The program, funded through a Maternal Health Resident Training grant, also serves as an opportunity to train physician residents to care for rural communities and rural mothers. The practical, budget-friendly cooking lessons highlight plant-based meals and reducing saturated fat intake, allowing participants to make healthier choices. Positive feedback has shown increased confidence in cooking, better food choices and a larger consumption of vegetables among attendees.
