Building Toward Evidence-Based Practice in community kitchens

1. N E WC O M E R S
C O O K IN G
TO G E TH E R
M E N ’S E D ITIO N
B u i l d i n g To w a r d
E v id e n c e -B a s e d
P r a c t ic e in c o m m u n it y

2. WH Y M E N ?
• Increase in male clients at Access Alliance
38% (2006) to 47% (2009)
• Through our clinical encounters, we
realized refugee men often ate poorly
because they:
• didn’t know how to cook
• were used to food being cooked by women
• were used to communal eating
• were reminded of their losses when eating alone
• were unable to recognize food in supermarkets,
such as shrink-wrapped meat

3. WH Y M E N ?
• Nutrition education efforts tend to
target female heads of households (Harnack,
Story, Martinson, Neumark-Sztainer, & Stang, 1998)
• Males spend less than half the amount
of time cooking than females in
Canada [24 minutes/day vs. 54
minutes/day vs.] (Statistics Canada, 2005)
• Evidence shows that men consume less
vegetables & fruit than women (CCHS, 2002)

4. WH Y C O O K IN G ?
• Nutrition education in non-traditional
setting like a community kitchen has
been shown to be a successful way to
modify dietary behaviour (Keller, Gibbs, Wong,
Vanderkooy, Hedley, 2004)
• Bringing people together over food
preparation and meal sharing helps
with social, nutritional and lifestyle
needs. (Community Kitchens Canada: www.communitykitchens.ca)

5. TH E F ILM
Featuring…ten men from eight
countries who team up for ten
consecutive weeks for a
cooking extravaganza!!

6. U P D A TE S
• Participants as Peer Leaders
• Co-presenters at the Art of Public Health
Conference, U of T, October, 2010
• One Peer Leader has since obtained nutrition-
related volunteer work
• Two Peer Leaders applied to community kitchen
positions (employment)
• Past participant volunteering with graphic design
• Food Handler Certificate Training
• Internal referrals (Volunteer, Diabetes Team,
Settlement)
• Ongoing contact between participants

7. im p act
• Every participant (N=10) indicated that they
learned how to prepare/cook new foods.
• Participants were “very” likely (60%) or “likely”
(40%) to change what they cooked at home as a
result of the program.
• Participants learned “a lot” (89%) about or “some”
about healthy eating on a low income.
• Participants were “very likely” (60%) or likely”
(20%) to stay in touch with new friends from the
program.
• Waiting list
• Participants wishing to return for a second time.

8. M O V IN G
F O R WA R D …
• Strengthen Nutrition Education
– Nutrition Message of the Week
– Nutrition Learning Goals Worksheet
• Establish & Document Best Practices
– Equitable hiring practices and relevant supportive resources
– Experiential training for peer leaders
– Incorporate the arts in community kitchens
– Skill development
– Networking
• Improve Evaluation Process
– Trans-theoretical model of change pre/post program
– Test nutrition knowledge
– Introduce 6month/12month follow up evaluations to assess
behaviour change

9. TH AN K
YO U !
Cookbooks and Video can be viewed
on our website:
http://accessalliance.ca/services/nutritionprograms

10. REFERENC ES
• Donkin,, A.J.M, Johnson, A.E., Lilley, J.M., Morgan, K., Neale, R.J., Page, R.M., & Silburn, R.L.
(1998). Gender and living alone as determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption among the
elderly living at home in urban Nottingham. Appetite, 30, p.39-51.
• Harnack, L., Story, M., Martinson, B., Neumark-Sztainer D., & Stang, J. Guess who’s cooking? The
roe of men in meal planning, shopping, and preparation in US families. American Dietetic
Association,98(9), p.995-1000.
• Keller, H.H., Gibbs, A., Wong, S., Vanderkooy, P., Hedley, M. (2004). Men can cook! The Journal of
Nutrition in Gerontology and Geriatrics, 24 (1), p. 71-87.
• Statistics Canada (2005). Time spent on various activities, by sex. Retrieved from:
http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/famil36c-eng.htm
• Statistics Canada (2002). Vegetable and fruit consumption. Canadian Community Health Survey
(CCHS). Retrieved from: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/studies-etudes/82-003/archive/2002/6103-eng.pdf