City Slicker Farms

By Food Justice Ally Sarah Holle

There is more sugar in a bottle of Strawberry Fanta than in Coke, students at a recent Cooking Matters class in Oakland were surprised to learn, especially since there are strawberries on the front of the Fanta bottle. Moments of discovery like this are part of a free 9-week course for local residents in Oakland and around the bay to become Health Promoters in their community. The classes are run by 18 Reasons, a nonprofit dedicated to emowering communities to make healthy food choices. Two of our Backyard Gardeners, Iris Corina and Laurie Alessandra, are taking part in the Promoter training course, where they are being equipped to teach their own 6-week courses fostering a culture of healthy eating in their neighborhoods.

Laurie, currently in the middle of a career change, decided to apply for the Cooking Matters class after years of studying Ayurvedic medicine, massage therapy, being a doula and a nanny. A healthy lifestyle is important to her and cooking and nutrition seems to be a good fit after all her work in wellness-related fields, community engagement experience, and growing up in an Italian family that loves to cook. She has an open-door policy in her house where visitors are welcomed and know they can have food. Having a garden, there is often abundance of fresh food, and while concurrently training with Cooking Matters, Laurie explained, “I’ve learned to use different vegetables in recipes because they’re there. I’ve learned to blanch them and freeze them so that I don’t waste them.” She strongly believes eating healthy is something everyone can do.

“It’s opened my eyes to how to get other people to enjoy [gardening and cooking] because they think it’s out of their reach, but it’s not as hard as you think.” Cooking Matters has helped Laurie be more in tune to using MyPlate, the federal government's icon to help consumers create balanced meals, and thinking about what nutrients different foods can provide. Even more importantly, she is beginning to remove her blinders and realize that everyone’s situation is different, as she has gotten to know and learn alongside people from a variety of different backgrounds.

Iris, both from her own personal experience and through the Cooking Matters course, has also discovered the importance of seeing how every individual’s situation is different. For example, Laurie is all about using edamame, whereas Iris cannot eat edamame following a surgery she had.

“I truly believe knowledge is power," Iris explained. "Once I can apply it to my life, I can teach others.”

Learning how to eat properly for her situation and read nutrition labels has been empowering for Iris as she battles a series of medical complications. She is already teaching what she learns in the Cooking Matters class to her grandsons, holding lessons on topics such as sugar and fats.

“I want to make as sure as I can that they don’t end up with the same diseases I did," she said.

Feeling both nervous and excited, Iris hopes to be able to teach those who have special medical needs how to eat right for them. Iris has always been a cook, learning how to speedily whip together a meal from her single mother and grandmother, who was a chef. Her garden has helped with her cooking, as she can just walk outside and pick what she needs, rather than spending time and money at the grocery store. Iris' homegrown vegetables and training from Cooking Matters have allowed her to share with her community.

“I make stuff and I give it to my neighbors, I give it to my family," she said, "And I always give them the recipe."