Thousands of families in southeast Louisiana depend on Second Harvest Food Bank to keep from going hungry, but these days, the nonprofit is sending families home with more than just groceries.
As part of their program "Cooking Matters," nutrition experts teach people how to afford healthy and delicious meals on a budget.
Gallery: Good food that costs less than $1
"People think, 'I can't afford healthy foods.' We're here to tell them, 'Yes you can, and here are the ways to do it,'" said Kate McDonald, nutrition education coordinator with Second Harvest.
McDonald said she has seen the face of hunger firsthand, and said this program is able to provide at-risk families the skills, knowledge and confidence to make healthy and affordable meals.
"I see the 13-year-old girl who eats three or four helpings because she doesn't have anything to eat at home. I know the mother who doesn't eat during class because she doesn't have anything to give to her kids," McDonald said.
The six-week course teaches participants how to read nutrition information, how to prepare foods, and how to budget and shop for food. After each class, they receive recipes and other educational materials along with a bag of groceries to practice what they've learned at home.
"Within the first three weeks, they teach you about budgeting, main food groups and what you should have every day. And just knowing that much will help you, even if you can't make all the classes," said Jameson Warren, who just completed the course.
Warren said his favorite lesson was the grocery store tour, where participants are taught how to stretch their dollar, and make smart food choices.
Gallery: Foods under 40 calories
Here are the three top money-saving tips, according to McDonald:
1. Use unit prices to compare foods of different sizes or brands and find the best deal. Often the unit price is found right on the shelf tag, listed separately from the retail price.
2. Buying anything that's precut for you will be more expensive. Whether it's chicken, fruit, cheese, etc, it's usually always cheaper to buy it whole and do it yourself.
3. Try to purchase your produce when it's in season. Not only will it be less expensive, but it will also have more nutritional value and taste better! However, don't shy away from canned or frozen foods. In some cases they may actually be the healthier option, if the produce you're looking for is out of season.
During the last class, participants get to take part in the $10 Challenge. They each have to create a meal that would feed four people, using items from three different food groups, for less than $10.
"They all say, 'Ms. Kate, that's crazy, I don't think we can buy something for $10.' But every time they do it, (they) get really creative and it's really inspiring," said McDonald.
WDSU tried our hand at the $10 dollar challenge, and passed. We bought chicken, frozen veggies and brown rice to make a stir fry, at a total of $7.90.
We were also able to find enough items to feed a family of four breakfast for just a little more than $5.
McDonald says these are teaching tools available to anyone in any community. Second Harvest is partnering with Share our Strength on this initiative. And since it was launched, has helped more than 120,000 low-income families eat better for less.
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