One of the class participants nearly broke my heart by saying that she's always wanted a kitchen scale but couldn't afford to get one. Sherrie said, "I'm feeding five mouths and I only have two spoons. Food isn't enough. I need pots and pans."
Sherrie, who had three young children with her that day, talked about another big problem with cooking healthy food.
I'll be waiting for the bus with the kids and bags of groceries, but the buses won't stop. They don't want me with all my kids and all my stuff on the bus. Two, three buses will pass before one will stop.
The night before, she said, it had been nine o'clock before she got home.
Dawn Dunlap, the Program Administrator for the Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Collaborative, talked with Sherrie and the class about other barriers to healthy eating and promised to contact the transit authority about the situation.
After the class, Sherrie and I talked about the many problems she faces in getting good food on the table: money for food, access to food, child care, ways to cook and serve the food, and the skills to make tasty, nutritious meals. We didn't even get into health care or a place to live.
Our conversation reminds me that recipes, cooking plans, menus, and shopping lists are only part of the solution. They are the part I can focus on, but I'm so glad others like HEAL and the Community Food Security Coalition are working on the others.
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