A Recipe for Ending Hunger
By Mabel Hernandez
I’m an alchemist in the kitchen, making magic happen when I transform the simplest ingredients into something extraordinary.
One trick I don’t mind sharing is a recipe for making hunger disappear.
I add a dash of my passion for cooking and fold in a generous measure of nutrition awareness, drawing on my professional experience.
Getting it right didn’t happen overnight, however.
A few years ago when I was a student at the University of the District of Columbia, a representative of the Food Bank came to one of our classes recruiting volunteers for Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters® program.
The program mission attracted me, but time passed, and despite receiving monthly e-mails asking to join a series, I never joined.
Several years later, while working as a community nutritionist at an outpatient clinic, a manager re-directed my attention to Cooking Matters®. Finally, I contacted the Food Bank, made all the arrangements and our first Cooking Matters series began, with we me serving as nutrition instructor and class coordinator.
I fell in love with all aspects of the program, which uses simple concepts, easy, inexpensive recipes and involve the participant in cooking and learning nutrition concepts.
