The Chuk Muk women’s cooking classes have been continuing every month since their inception in March 2022. There are 4 groups that meet once a month for a nutrition talk and then a cooking class.
The women are loving this program where they get to learn how to feed their family healthy, tasty food economically.
They do not get many opportunities to cook as a group and then sit down for a communal meal.
The families are very poor and never go to a restaurant or invite another family over for a meal
These classes are filled with laughter.
Then the participant goes home with the exact food they need to remake this food at home.
For 12 years we have been trying to get families to eat CHAYA. CHAYA is a highly nutritious leafy green that grows in a tree or shrub. It use to be part of the traditional diet before the conquistadores invaded. We found that our families would grow it but not consume it. In our cooking classes we have shown many recipes containing CHAYA.
The women are now asking for more CHAYA recipes and incorporating it into their diet. As the plant already is growing in their yard they are able to now feed their families cheaper meals that are highly nutritious..