Tuesday, December 15, 2015

E3 Students Design Cookbook for Friendship Center Food Pantry Members


The cover of the cookbook. Below, Mayor Dick Alcombright at left talks with the E3 students on Tuesday. (Thanks to Bert Lamb with help on photography during the press conference).
 

 

THE STUDENTS OF THE E3 ACADEMY PRESENT E3 COOKS, A COOKBOOK THEY CREATED, TO THE FRIENDSHIP CENTER

(Press Release from the E3 program)


NORTH ADAMS -- On Tuesday, December 15, the E3 Academy of Drury High School will present its latest creation to the Friendship Center: E3 COOKS, a cookbook for users of the Friendship Center food pantry. The cookbook features 27 recipes the students identified as healthy and that make use of ingredients available through the food pantry. They then tested all the recipes, using the kitchen at the UNO Community Center.

The cookbook is the culmination of months of hard work as the students studied the food system in general and food insecurity in particular. Beginning with field trips to local farms and the Friendship Center…to working at the Berkshire Food Project…to hearing from speakers from The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and the Growing Healthy Gardens Project…to researching and producing presentations of various aspects of the food system, the students have come to understand the food system and the impact of food insecurity on their neighbors as well as others throughout the world. With generous support from the UNO Center, which allowed us to use its kitchen, the students prepared and taste-tested recipes that made use of many of the foods available at the Friendship Center and incorporated as many vegetables as possible.

In the course of the project, the students practiced a variety of academic skills, including research, expository and persuasive writing, presentation and public speaking, fractions, measuring and scaling, calculating nutritional values and word problems, as well as life skills, including collaboration, decision making, consideration for others, making a positive contribution to their community, using positive communication skills, and conflict resolution. “And how to ruin a pan!” says Senior Charles Talis

The Cooking for (Real) Life project was funded by a North Adams Public Schools Service-Learning Mini-Grant.

WHAT: Presentation of the E3 Cookbook to the Friendship Center

WHEN: Tuesday, December 15, 11:00 a.m.

WHERE: The Friendship Center Food Pantry, 45 Eagle Street 
 

About E3 Academy

The E3 Academy, which stands for Effort, Employability and Essential skills and knowledge, is a competency-based program of Drury High School. The program features a non-traditional classroom setup for students at risk of leaving school. For more information about the E3 Academy, please call 413-662-3275 or email areifsnyder@napsk12.org.





About the Friendship Center

The Friendship Center Food Pantry is a program of the Northern Berkshire Interfaith Action Initiative Inc. Located at 45 Eagle St., in North Adams. the Friendship Center serves families in need in
North Adams, Clarksburg and Florida and is open every
 Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. In November it served an average of 172 households per week.

Open since 2011, the program has evolved into a true “Friendship Center.” A few years ago, to avoid long lines outside of the food pantry in all kinds of weather, the organization started using the Eagle Street room at the First Baptist Church of North Adams for a sign-in and waiting area. After their turn to sign in, pantry members proceed down the street to pick up their food at 45 Eagle St. This process provides the opportunity to bring in more services for them, including a nurse and representatives of numerous local social services organizations.

For more information about the Friendship Center, call 413-664-0123 or email northernberkshireinterfaith.com..

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