Now Here’s an Idea – Learn To Teach Traditional Cooking!

I have been flying all over the country lately, teaching people how to cook traditional foods in California, Colorado, Maryland, and Massachusetts…and Michigan, Indiana and Texas were on the calendar this past year.

I am blessed to be an adjunct professor teaching Traditional Foods Cooking in the Masters of Integrative Health and Nutrition at Tai Sophia Institute in Columbia, Maryland.

I LOVE to teach! I am teaching at fairs, in schools, and wellness centers, conference centers and retreat centers. To think that I started teaching classes seven years ago this month…on a six foot table at the Bethesda Co-op in Cabin John, Maryland…time has flown by!

The story goes like this:

I had had my own catering company, The Basic Feast, for about 5 years. The Basic Feast was the first catering company in the Washington, DC metro area that featured biodynamic and organic produce and sustainably raised, grass-fed meat and poultry…from Polyface Farm, no less. (My search for sustainably raised, local foods led me straight to Swoope, VA to meet Joel Salatin at Polyface Farm. He continues to be one of my personal heroes!) The Basic Feast served green companies, embassies and environmental organizations. Our clients cared about the planet and the food they ate and served. We also had the pleasure of catering some of the first Wise Traditions conferences, the annual conference of the Weston A. Price Foundation. That’s what set me up for the next step…which ultimately changed my life.

One day in September of 2006, I received a call from a manager at the Bethesda Co-op who knew I cooked traditional foods and that I had catered Wise Traditions conferences. She called to ask if I would “teach Nourishing Traditions” at the Co-op. (Nourishing Traditions is the cookbook that “challenges politically correct nutrition” by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig.) The Co-op carried the book, but she said that the size of the book seemed to overwhelm customers; they just did not know where to start. Would I teach cooking classes at the Co-op based on the book? Of course; I’d love to! And so began the love of my life…teaching cooking to others.

Providing the knowledge and the tools and the inspiration and confidence for people to go into the kitchen and reclaim their connection to nourishing food and their health. I sat down at my table while my seven-month old son sleept in the other room, and looked through the book I had used so many times. I determined that there were six techniques that were at the heart of the book, that people really needed to know in order to cook traditional food…an intro class on “real food”, making stock, fermentation, soaking beans, soaking grains, and salad dressings. Thus the first six Cooking for Well-Being classes were born. (And now there are thirty or more…)

That first class in September of 2006 was about 8 people at the store before hours on a Sunday morning. I hauled all my equipment and ingredients with me from home and taught on a six-foot table with an electric burner and a lot of enthusiasm. I have been teaching ever since. And loving it.

So…now what?  While I continue to fly around the country teaching, (I am writing from outside Boston today; flew in yesterday for my GAPS Cooking weekend at Groton Wellness) the demand for live classes continues to grow and I cannot meet the demand myself. I have decided to create a cadre of Cooking for Well-Being Teachers who will be trained to teach the principles and techniques of nourishing, traditional foods in their own communities, cities and towns, and continue to “teach, teach, teach!” as Dr. Weston A. Price requested.

The Cooking for Well-Being Teacher Training program is three levels. Level I  focuses on the techniques of cooking traditional foods, including the “hows” AND the “whys” of nine basic techniques. Once one passes Level I training, they may continue on to take Level II training, which is the “how to teach” the Cooking for Well-Being classes. After Level II, the student is a certified Cooking for Well-Being Teacher, and will have the training, knowledge and tools to teach classes. Level III is the Masters level, which is by my invitation. Master Teachers will serve as regional (or in the case of California, state) teachers of the program.

Who would benefit from this training?

• anyone who is serious about taking back their health through real food
• anyone who wants to learn how to cook nourishing, traditional food
• anyone who has been ill and is now seeking to strengthen and nourish the body
• health coaches and practitioners, including Nutritional Therapists, CNCs, CNs,  midwives, acupuncturists, herbalists, personal trainers and more
• moms, parents and caregivers
• college students
• teachers
• those who want to teach Cooking for Well-Being Classes as a career or an add-on to their current holistic health practice

Level I training is six months, and alternates monthly between teleconferences and cooking weekends in Loveland, Colorado. Level II training is three months, and will begin in March 2013. The nine Cooking for Well-Being Basics Classes that are covered in the training are

1. Culturing Dairy and Making Whey
2. The Technique of Lacto-fermentation: Vegetables, Fruits and Beverages
3. Making Nutrient-Dense Stock: Beef and Chicken
4. Soaking and Preparing Beans for Ease of Digestion and Nutrient Availability
5. Soaking and Preparing Whole Grains for Ease of Digestion and Nutrient Availability
6. Making Enzyme-Rich Sauces
7. Making Salad Dressings and Marinades
8. Preparing Deep Green Leafy Vegetables
9. Liver and Liver Pate

There is still time! If you are interested in becoming a Certified Cooking for Well-Being Teacher, the next session of Level I training begins September 26 or October 10, with a teleconference. The first cooking weekend is October 26-28, in Loveland, Colorado.  Level I will not be offered again before July of 2013.

For more information about the Cooking for Well-Being Teacher training, including a Letter to Prospective Students  and see https://simplybeingwell.com/cooking-classes/ Contact me at [email protected] or call 970-685-7797.

I look forward to cooking with you! Oh what fun we will have, learning and cooking together…and preparing you for the next right step for you on your path to teach, teach, teach!