Program Overview
Explore our curricula, Facilitator Training and resources for bringing Cooking Matters to your community.
For more than 30 years, Cooking Matters has helped children, families and communities build practical skills for choosing, preparing and enjoying nutritious, affordable food. Today, The Food Trust serves as the national home for Cooking Matters, through a comprehensive suite of nutrition education curricula, interactive Facilitator Training and ongoing support for partner organizations nationwide.
Our curricula provide flexible, hands-on learning experiences for different audiences and settings. Through our self-paced Facilitator Training, educators, community-based professionals and volunteers gain the skills and confidence to deliver engaging, participant-centered nutrition education in their communities.
Explore Our Cooking Matters Curricula
Discover our collection of nutrition education curricula designed for different audiences and settings, updated to reflect the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Select a curriculum below to learn more about its focus, audience and approach.
Interactive lessons help children explore foods, practice age-appropriate kitchen skills and build confidence making food choices. Designed to make learning active, hands-on and relevant to children’s everyday experiences.
Practical cooking, shopping and food choice activities help teens build independence and skills they can use now and into adulthood. Lessons create space for exploration, discussion and hands-on practice.
Designed for children and caregivers to learn together, this curriculum brings food skills into shared family experiences, including planning, shopping, preparing meals and trying new foods.
Helps adults strengthen practical skills for preparing meals, making informed food choices and managing food resources. Activities emphasize discussion, skill-building and strategies participants can use in their own lives.
Interactive grocery shopping education helps participants compare food options, read labels, consider price and value and make choices that work for their needs and budgets. Use the current facilitator guidance to choose the appropriate store-tour or approved learning format.
For adults at risk for or living with diabetes. Six sessions connect practical nutrition and food skills with participants’ needs, helping them build confidence in shopping for and preparing meals.
For parents and other caregivers of children ages 0–18. Lessons connect nutrition and food skills to the everyday realities of feeding children. They may be offered individually or as a series, as the current guide permits; cooking and shopping activities vary by lesson.
Resources for early childhood professionals who influence food experiences and support positive food environments. The curriculum emphasizes practical, developmentally appropriate approaches that can be used in child care settings.
An upcoming series exploring how practical nutrition education and food skills can support health and nutrition-related needs, helping organizations connect Cooking Matters with broader Food is Medicine initiatives.
What You'll Learn
Through seven interactive modules, you’ll build the knowledge, skills and confidence to plan and deliver engaging, participant-centered Cooking Matters programming. Explore the modules below to see how you’ll learn to facilitate hands-on cooking and nutrition education, adapt activities for different audiences, and prepare to implement Cooking Matters in your community.
Explore The Food Trust, the Cooking Matters program and how nutrition education supports practical skills and confidence. Consider how experiences, resources and everyday circumstances shape food choices.
Learn how The Food Trust and partner organizations work together to deliver Cooking Matters. Explore facilitator and organizational responsibilities, partnership steps, access requirements and available support.
Explore ten selected best practices for nutrition education and how they appear in Cooking Matters. Use examples and scenarios to connect learner-centered facilitation with program fidelity and relevant standards.
Practice using questions, listening and the 4As to build on participants’ experiences. Explore ways to guide dialogue and adapt your facilitation for adults, teens, children and families.
Learn where to find Cooking Matters materials and how to use the Facilitator and Participant Guides. Explore a sample lesson and make planning decisions that preserve essential content and participant practice.
Plan cooking and nutrition activities that help participants practice useful skills. Consider recipes, space, materials, safety and task sharing, and explore how to make nutrition education interactive and relevant.
Bring implementation plans together by assessing host-site readiness, confirming responsibilities, recruiting participants and preparing for delivery. Review considerations for in-person and online programming, reporting and brand use.
Course Overview
Prepare to facilitate practical participatory Cooking Matters through seven self-paced modules, realistic teaching scenarios and reusable planning resources.
Self-paced online training with videos, interactive activities, real-world scenarios, knowledge checks and opportunities to apply what you learn.
4-5 hours
Individuals who will facilitate Cooking Matters programming on behalf of a partner organization, including staff, educators, community-based professionals and volunteers.
Facilitators receive an individual certificate of completion. After the organization’s Partner Agreement has been fully executed, trained facilitators receive authorized access to Cooking Matters curricula and implementation resources through the Partner Portal.