Food Skills programs are for participants of all ages and backgrounds and aim to enhance the health and well-being of our community by teaching simple, affordable, garden-to-table cooking, encouraging cultural expression, and bringing together people who may be experiencing social isolation.

Some Food Skills programs include:

• Cook Ahead Community Kitchen: Cook Ahead teaches participants how to cook culturally diverse, delicious and nutritious foods from scratch, in larger quantities that helps with meal planning on a budget. We teach practical skills to make cooking at home more accessible, and lead discussions around preventing and managing chronic disease, food and mood, food systems, and environmental sustainability.

• Canning and Preserving Workshop Series: Participants learn how to can in-season, local fruits and vegetables in safe and healthy ways, how to use fermentation, drying and freezing as alternative ways to preserve fruits and vegetables, and how to properly store foods that have been preserved to last the winter.

• Harm Reduction Community Kitchen: In partnership with Street Health and Regent Park Community Health Centre, this community kitchen includes participants preparing and sharing a healthy meal from scratch, with leftovers, discussions, and educational materials that outline the link between harm reduction and nutrition. Participants can also access harm reduction supplies.

• Cook and Grow: For children, youth and seniors in Regent Park. Participants learn where food comes from, how to grow their own food, and how to make simple healthy recipes using fresh ingredients. Participants get their hands dirty building good soil, compost and worm bins, creating pollinator and edible gardens, and learning about healing plants, perennial vs annual plantings, sprouts and micro-greens for alternative/winter sources of greens and proteins.