Bring Cooking Matters to Your Community
Interested in hosting a class or helping someone else bring Cooking Matters to your community? Follow these simple steps:
Cooking Matters Maine
Empowering Maine Families to Cook, eat, and live healthier on a budget.
Cooking Matters, acquired by The Food Trust in 2024, is a nationally recognized nutrition education program that has reached nearly 1 million individuals through courses, tours and flexible lessons in communities across the country. The program includes interactive, evidence-based curricula and resources for children, families and adults; its customizable lessons and toolkits focus on shopping and cooking healthy meals on a limited budget within a variety of community-based settings.
These 4–6 week classes are offered at no cost to participants or host sites.
The Food Bank provides all the training, technical assistance, funding, and support needed for community organizations to bring Cooking Matters programming to their area.
Interested in hosting a class in your community?
Contact us at CookingMatters@gsfb.org to learn more or follow the steps below.
Watch Training Videos
Get ready for your Cooking Matters class by watching our three training videos: Introduction, Volunteer Training, and Nuts and Bolts.
Volunteer with Us
Join our network of volunteers and help expand nutrition education opportunities across the state. Share your skills and support individuals and families as they learn to prepare healthy, affordable meals.
Cook at Home
Simply enter the ingredients you have on hand to find delicious, nutritious, and easy-to-make recipes that the whole family will enjoy!
Use the resources below to prepare for your Cooking Matters Class:
Questions? Contact us!
The Nutrition and Education Team
Meet the team that supports our Cooking Matters program.
Courtney Kennedy
Director of Nutrition
Courtney Kennedy, M.Ed, is the Director of Nutrition for Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine and oversees Cooking Matters programming, the Nutrition Pantry Program, and Farm Fresh Reward, a nutrition incentive program in Maine.
During Courtney’s ten-year tenure, she has helped increase the organization’s nutrition foods by implementing a robust nutrition policy that guides the organization’s work, moving the needle from 54% nutrition foods to upwards to 82%. Courtney participated in Feeding America’s Nutritious Foods Revisioning Task Force, which worked on revamping nutrition guidelines for the charitable food network. In addition to this task force, Courtney works with State of Maine partners to continue building essential practices supporting overall health and wellness for food insecure neighbors.
Before working at the Food Bank, Courtney worked in the public education sector, working on policy, systems, and environmental changes related to nutrition and physical activity. Her most proud accomplishment was working with her school district to be the only middle/high school in the State to have accomplished the Healthier US School Challenge, resulting in an invitation to the White House and meeting First Lady Michelle Obama.
Courtney holds a Bachelor of Science in Education and Allied Health Professions with a concentration in Dietetics from the University of Dayton and a Master’s in Adult Education from the University of Southern Maine and certifications supporting her ongoing development. Courtney enjoys working out, running, and walking her dog Harry Bear, a Newfie, in her free time. She resides in Southern Maine but is passionate about traveling and seeing the world.