1. Letter of Interest
18 Reasons is a nonprofit cooking school on a mission to empower our community with confidence and creativity to buy, cook, and eat good food every day. Uplifting the transformative power of home cooking, our organization uses culinary, nutrition, and food resource management education to help low-income families break the complex cycle of poverty and food insecurity that leaves them vulnerable to hunger, poor nutrition, and diet-related illnesses.
To achieve our mission,18 Reasons offers four free community cooking programs, developed in response to the specific needs of community members. Our Cooking Matters Program provides 6-week cooking and nutrition classes to low-income families, adults, and youth, while Planned and Prep is an advanced 4-week cooking series for Cooking Matters graduates. Nourishing Pregnancy pairs grocery delivery with cooking and nutrition for Black and Latinx pregnant people. Food as Medicine provides grocery delivery and free online classes for diabetes patients, co-taught with a team of doctors.
Committed to improving food equity, 18 Reasons' free community cooking programs focus on reaching lower-income, racially/ethnically diverse communities. In the past year, these programs have reached more than 2,500 students, including over 1,200 youth. To make our work possible, 18 Reasons relies on a diverse team of 25 staff members; 44% of our staff are people of color, including 32% who are bilingual/bicultural in Spanish. We also engage 120 volunteers and employ 15 Peer Health Educators (community members who have received training from 18 Reasons) to teach our programs. We partner with over 80 host site agencies to deliver these programs to clients.
18 Reasons has offered programming in the San Pablo area since 2011, including many classes held in partnership with the City of San Pablo and the West Contra Costa Unified School District.
We have also been awarded and have successfully completed contracts with the cities of Richmond, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco, with Contra Costa Health Services, with Alameda County, and with the California Department of Agriculture for the same programming.
2. Approach, Management, and Evaluation Plan
During the grant period, Cooking Matters for Kids and Cooking Matters for Teens will serve an anticipated 200 unduplicated middle and high school students, and Cooking Matters for Parents/Cooking Matters for Families will serve 100 parents of young children. 1 We track attendance at each class and use a validated, matched pre- and post-series survey that measures behavior change, nutrition knowledge, and culinary confidence. We enter all data into a Survey Monkey database and can easily pull reports for any of our class series. We will be able to report unduplicated participant numbers as well as program outcomes at any point during the grant period.
Our anticipated outcomes are as follows:
Datapoint Proposed Number
Number of class series 20
Number of individual classes 120
Number of program participants 300
% of program participants reporting program satisfaction 99% % of program participants reporting increased fruit and vegetable consumption
70%
% of program participants reporting cooking confidence 60% % of program participants reporting decreased consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages
40%
% of program participants reporting increased use of meal planning tools such as making a grocery list, using ingredients in multiple recipes, and preparing breakfast and snack items ahead of time
80%
Qualitatively, cooking is an extracurricular activity that is one of several options offered through school after-school programs. Participation is voluntary. Because food has a way of bringing people together, our cooking classes are very successful at generating excitement among youth while increasing school engagement and a sense of community and belonging.
As one participant in a class for parents at the San Pablo Community Center told us, “I like how we learned easy-to-follow recipes that are healthy. Through this class I was able to try new recipes and different foods I wouldn’t typically try. I had fun cooking!” We also collect quotes from kids and teens in our program:
2 Cooking Matters for Teens graduate: "it has shown me how to use a knife, measure ingredients and give me a better understanding in cooking"
Cooking Matters for Kids graduate: "These black bean veggie quesadillas are bussin and if there's extra I'd like 5 more"
Cooking Matters for Kids graduate: “Cooking class was worth missing first recess!” Regarding the San Pablo Local Economic Opportunity Policy, 18 Reasons shall contact the San Pablo Economic Development Corporation (“EDC”) at [email protected] at least ten business days prior to hiring or staffing for fulfillment of the Contract, describing number, duties and qualifications needed for available positions, and shall fairly consider for employment any workers referred by the EDC within three business days. 18 Reasons employs a number of San Pablo residents as peer health educators, and will continue to train and hire peer health educators as part of this project.
3. Project Experience
18 Reasons has partnered with the City of San Pablo for the past 12 years. So far in 2023, we have offered classes at Dover, Riverside, Helms, Kennedy, and Richmond High School. Through our MOU with the West Contra Costa Unified School District, we are able to offer classes in partnership with all of the schools identified in the RFP.
We also partner with Lifelong Medical Care, West County First 5, and other organizations serving parents and children in San Pablo. Partner organizations can reach out to 18 Reasons at any time to request classes, and we are typically able to accommodate requests for new partnerships within two to three months of receiving the request.
We currently employ seven San Pablo-based peer health educators as instructors in our Cooking Matters classes. As a key part of our Cooking Matters program, 18 Reasons trains peer health educators or promotores de salud to deliver Cooking Matters classes in their communities; these educators are community members who have graduated from a Cooking Matters class and are community leaders who lack formal education in cooking or nutrition. We train and employ them as teachers in our classes. Learning from peers in the class is the core of our educational model; if one participant is struggling with getting her kids to try new vegetables, for example, another participant’s success story will have a greater impact than any tips a nutritionist could offer.
3 Our proposed project is a strong fit with the City of San Pablo’s current policy priorities, and our program complements the San Pablo City Council’s Priority Work Plan seamlessly. The Work Plan prioritizes Healthy Eating/Active Living interventions as a crucial part of the services that San Pablo residents need, and the Plan even specifically mentions HEAL support at some of our program host site partners (LifeLong Medical Care, WCCUSD, etc). 18 Reasons will offer hands-on cooking practice, nutrition education, and physical activity education to these priority audiences. As the City of San Pablo takes steps to become “The City of Healthy Living”, offering free programs like Cooking Matters that make healthy living achievable even for residents living on a limited budget are instrumental to health equity in San Pablo.
Our program is aligned with the City of San Pablo’s Community Action Plan program priority of offering free & reduced-cost nutrition and cooking classes. As the CAP states, “The Task Force strongly supported community-based cooking classes to provide instruction and tips to community members on preparing healthier meals for their families. According to members of the Task Force, similar classes have already been met with tremendous success in the City and have served to educate community members about the importance of preparing healthy meals.” This refers to work 18 Reasons and others have been doing in the community, including Cooking Matters classes hosted by the City of San Pablo at the Maple Hall Community Center.
4. Scope of Services
To address food insecurity and reinforce healthy eating, 18 Reasons will bring our Cooking Matters program to elementary, middle, and high school campuses and community-based organizations in San Pablo, reaching a total of 300 unduplicated participants. During the grant period, our goal will be to teach 200 child and teen San Pablo residents, ages 8 to 18, how to make healthy food choices and prepare meals. For transitional-aged youth, we will offer either Cooking Matters for Teens or Cooking Matters for Adults programming, depending on the needs of our partners. We will also offer Cooking Matters for Parents (for parents of young children) and Cooking Matters for Families (for parents and kids together), reaching 100 San Pablo parents. Schools reach out to us to help them fulfill their goals of healthy eating and active living, as well as their parent engagement goals.
4 Clients Type # of
Unduplicated
Clients, Total
# of Unduplicated
Clients, San Pablo
Residents
# of Average
Dosage hours
per client
Brief description
& proposed
schedule
3rd-5th grade 100 100 12 Weekly classes
for kids
(times/days
selected by
partners)
6th-12th grade 100 100 12 Weekly classes
for teens
(times/days
selected by
partners)
Parents/TAY 100 100 12 Weekly classes
for parents/TAY
(times/days
selected by
partners)
18 Reasons uses the Cooking Matters curriculum, an evidence-based model that addresses hunger by inspiring teens to make healthy, affordable meals. Refined over 27 years, Cooking Matters is a federally-approved SNAP-ed curriculum specifically designed for low-income youth and families. Each series will be tailored to the participants in each group, ensuring they have the opportunity to shape their learning. For instance, on the first day we ask youth what they want to learn, why they signed up for the class, and what their favorite foods are. We use this information to shape lessons and recipes to the needs and desires of the group.
For six weeks, our instructors and volunteers will make weekly visits to school sites, bringing everything needed to prepare fresh, nutritious meals. Each class will meet for 90 minutes. The first half hour will cover a nutrition lesson and facilitated discussion; over the course of each series, students will learn about vital nutrition such as whole grains, healthy fats, reading nutrition labels, benefits of consuming produce, the parts of a plant, varying their diets, and the importance of eating breakfast and reducing sugar intake. The last hour will engage students in hands-on cooking and learning to prepare healthy, age-appropriate recipes while practicing basic knife skills, setting up for fast and safe cooking, planning and grocery shopping, making healthy snacks, breakfast, and desserts, and other culinary skills. 5 At the end of each class, students will take home recipes and groceries so they can practice the recipes taught that day. Recognizing that students may come from households where cooking equipment is limited, we ensure that utensils and ingredients are kept very simple. This practice shows students and families that complicated equipment isn’t needed to make great food.
To ensure that each student receives attention and supervision, classes will be led by a cooking instructor and three volunteers. Class size will be limited to 15 students and will maintain a very low ratio of at least one adult for every five students. School teachers and after-school instructors will play a key role in our program by laying out class rules and helping us successfully navigate discussions and instruction. 18 Reasons’ staff members have completed training on youth development and how to lead trauma-informed classes.
We have developed a peer health educator program that trains and employs teens as instructors in Cooking Matters for Teens and Cooking Matters for Kids classes (a series offered at elementary schools and community sites). This program creates opportunities for youth to learn leadership and facilitation skills, while offering them valuable work experience. Each year, six teens will receive training and instruction from 18 Reasons. Our peer health educator training program offers community members valuable training and employment opportunities, while enabling our program to reach community members more effectively. Peer health educators create recipes, design lessons, and help 18 Reasons staff members make improvements to the program. In recent years, we have begun training and employing teen peer health educators as well, working with them to design lessons that appeal to teens and younger children.
The employment and skills development provided by Cooking Matters to our peer health educators has a lasting and positive impact on their lives. In addition to earning $450 per six-week series, many peer educators have gone on to pursue career opportunities that would be otherwise unavailable to them. Examples include the following: Erika began as a youth peer health educator and went on to become a full-time Program Coordinator at 18 Reasons; another youth peer health educator is now training to take a position as a Program Coordinator on our staff. Lorena and Violeta were instructors who went on to help write a new curriculum for one of 18 Reasons’ programs; Violeta recently published a cookbook based on recipes she developed for 18 Reasons. Some former peer health educators have gone on to take staff positions at other agencies: for instance, Ana now works for the county health department, Isabel was recently hired on staff as a health educator at the San Francisco Food Bank, and Gloria and Francisco were both hired as staff health educators at the Monument Crisis Center in Contra Costa County.
6 18 Reasons also will integrate parents, caregivers, and families into the program, including offering Cooking Matters for Parents and Cooking Matters for Families. In these courses, we will provide instruction on food resource management, such as how to buy healthy food on a budget and stretch food to make it last longer. Parents and caregivers will learn how to make a meal plan, shop on a budget, make a grocery list, and use ingredients in multiple meals. We also will focus on how to prepare unfamiliar fruits and vegetables and how to incorporate ingredients they receive from the food bank into meals.
5. References
Denise Milosevich, Program Manager, CCHS- Public Health Division, Nutrition & Physical Activity Promotion Project
[email protected] 925-313-6217
Dennis Hsieh, Chief Medical Officer, Contra Costa Health Plan [email protected] , (925) 536-6357
Jean Clark, Community Services Manager, City of San Pablo [email protected], (510) 215-3091
6. Insurance
18 Reasons has insurance that meets the terms contained in the sample agreement included with the RFP.
7. Conflict of Interest Statement
18 Reasons has not made any contributions to any City of San Pablo public official (hired or elected), or to volunteers serving on review commissions having an influence on this work.
8. Contractor Contract Statement
18 Reasons accepts the terms of the City’s Professional Services Agreement. 7