“The best option for us has always been the cheapest and quickest option. I can’t afford to think about the healthier option.”
That reality is shared among many of the working poor in our Lubbock community. That’s where The Happy Kitchen came in! Starting at the source, the Sustainable Food Center hosted six weeks of their Happy Kitchen cooking and nutrition classes right here at Lubbock Impact. Each week engaged participants in the building blocks of nutrition while providing practical tips for incorporating healthier options into their diets. The teachers tackled questions about how different foods can affect conditions like diabetes, autoimmune diseases, inflammation, digestive issues, and more while demonstrating delicious and nutrient dense recipes.
Even after just one class, it quickly became clear the emotional toll that the years of health issues, food questions and confusion have had on so many of the participants. Many stayed after each class to express their gratitude through quiet voices and teary eyes, sharing about their struggles to manage health issues and healthy eating for their families. They shared everything from years of chronic pain to misdiagnoses, to extended hospital stays. The common denominators: the inaccessibility of affordable food and a lack of knowledge surrounding nutrition. One participant was a grandmother who attended every class, soaking up all the information to help her granddaughter whose nutrient deficiencies landed her in the pediatric ICU. She tasted each sample and diligently took notes. Phrases like “Aubree* would like this!” were written next to many of the recipes and healthier substitute options.
Though it’s no surprise, the research findings correlating individuals with low incomes to limited food access and higher risks for health problems are heartbreaking. Affordable access to fresh foods for impoverished families is strikingly low and when you combine these consistent food insecurities with the generally inequitable approach to healthcare for these populations, we’re met with a multi-generational cycle of preventable health problems. While one of the major barriers in developing healthy eating habits is simply not having access to fresh and nutritious foods, the cycle of poverty also facilitates a gap in knowledge regarding nutrition and how to prepare these fresh foods.
As the Happy Kitchen leaders walked participants through each class, the recipes that were highlighted showcased ingredients that can be found close by and even right here in Lubbock Impact’s food pantry, simplifying or even eliminating the barrier of limited food access. Even better, after each class, the participants received a bag of fresh groceries to take home for the opportunity to make the recipe demonstrated in class that day. While there aren’t always words to describe what empowerment does for someone feeling lost and overwhelmed, the simple sight of the many excited faces carrying bags of fresh groceries, recipe cards and packets of nutrition information discussing what they will cook next and who they will cook for, is an indescribable vision of that empowerment.
Through classes like Happy Kitchen, strides are being made to provide enrichment that can help break the cycle in impoverished communities. Lubbock Impact was so glad to partner with The Sustainable Food Center and The Happy Kitchen to provide a step in the direction of poverty alleviation!
