The "What's Cookin'?" Support Group at the May Institute's Children's Services has been meeting every summer for the past four years. The group gives mothers and grandmothers the opportunity to learn about healthy cooking with locally grown foods. The program is part of the “Books, Bikes and Apples” campaign to provide holistic health to children who have experienced significant trauma. A six-week pilot that began in November 2007 has been continued because of its popularity and has involved more than forty families. Weekly group sessions provide support and recipe sharing. The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health and Rodman Ride for Kids made community supported agriculture (CSA) food donations possible along with vegetables from Kettle Pond Farm in Berkley and Silverbrook Farm in Dartmouth. Regular visits from Chef Jessica Williams show how fresh organic vegetables can be prepared into delicious and healthy meals. Visits from organic farmers and a field trip to Kettle Pond Farm round out the program. Click here for photos of the group in 2008. For more information, contact Children's Services program director Janet Shartle at 508-678-0041.
 

(Top row) Children's Services director Janet Shartle passes around some of the fennel supplied by Kettle Pond Farm so that group members can notice the slight licorice aroma it exudes. (Middle row) Ms. Shartle displays some egg plant and corn also supplied by the farm. (Bottom row) Group members discuss various recipes that they've made using the fresh produce supplied by Kettle Pond Farm and an upcoming free food distribution.