Cooking with Seniors & Urban Garden
Cooking Classes The new Atrium Kitchen offers a variety of classes and resources for the downtown community to meet, eat and learn about food together. Many of the class participants are senior residents in Market housing, and Pike Market Senior Center members. Classes are offered every Thursday, free of charge. Nutritionists, chefs, and market neighbors demonstrate recipes and teach about nutritious, affordable meals.
Structure Classes are about 1 hour long Simple recipes Ingredients sourced from the Market or close by Try to introduce new tools as well as foods- like a mandolin, or a hand blender for making soups Provide $10 dollars in market bucks as to participants- as money is still the #1 barrier to food
Instructors 2 Nutritionists Chicken Soup Brigade- meal demos specific to seniors healthcare-needs (Diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.) Cooking Matters- classes for low income seniors Diane Levine - Market Chef/Restaurant Owner
Class Topic Examples “Soup for all Seasons” “Cheap Eats: Fabulous fruits and veggies” “Crafty Quesadillas'” “Beans and Basics- Cooking with Food Bank Staples”- an ongoing class
Nutrition Talks Every Wednesday after breakfast in the Senior Center, Rhonda (nutritionist) gives a quick talk about nutrition Ex: How to reduce salt consumption, benefits of spices, why seniors need certain vitamins
Urban Garden
Urban Rooftop Garden The Urban Garden is a rooftop garden that provides fresh fruits and veggies to the Pike Place Market Food Bank and Senior Center In 2013, the garden produced 200 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables for the Food Bank and Senior Center
Engaging the Community The garden is run completely by volunteers who are senior residents in Market housing. It provides them an opportunity to utilize their gardening skills to engage the market community and visitors. The fruits of their labor provide fresh foods for meals at the Pike Market Senior Center, as well as donations for the Downtown Food Bank.
Garden Benefits to Seniors Some clients at the FB/SC have never tasted garden-picked veggies. It’s an opportunity to show how great fresh produce can be. Teaches about seasonal veggies and what can grow in WA state.
FMNP at the Farmers Markets The Pike Place Market Farmers Market and Express Markets all accept SFMNP coupons Case workers, residential building managers, clinic staff, and volunteers conduct outreach to ensure as many seniors in the community apply as possible
Questions?
Contact Miranda Severns Farm Program Outreach Coordinator