This document describes a cooking program for newcomer men at Access Alliance. It found that refugee men often ate poorly due to lack of cooking skills and familiarity with Canadian foods/markets. The program had 10 men from 8 countries cook together for 10 weeks. Participants reported learning new recipes and healthy eating habits. They also formed social connections. The program aims to establish best practices for nutrition education and peer support to promote long-term behavior change among newcomer men.

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