As you begin to learn about Cooking Matters whether you are a new staff joining an existing partner or a staff member of a potentially interested organization, you may start to have general frequently asked questions regarding Cooking Matters courses and tours. Use this Solution Article to learn answers to some of these questions and use the following Table of Contents to jump to a particular section.


Cooking Matters Signature 6 Week Courses. 


How much does it cost to host six-week courses?

  • Please see the costs associated with Cooking Matters six-week courses in our Comprehensive Chart.


Can I host a Cooking Matters six-week course and Cooking Matters at the Store tour for the same group of people?

  • The six-week Cooking Matters programming includes a grocery tour during the 5th class.  If you hold six-week courses, you would not additionally use the Cooking Matters at the Store tour program for those same people.  However, you may decide to use Cooking Matters at the Store tours as a way to initially engage participants, and then recruit six-week course participants from tour attendees. 


How can I offer Cooking Matters course programming?

  • To offer courses, you must either work with an existing partner who offers courses or become a partner and go through our Cooking Matters course training.  Whenever possible, we encourage interested organizations or agencies to work with existing partners in their area who are already offering programming.  You can find local partners listed here.  If there are no partners in a given area, or existing partner capacity does not allow for collaboration, organizations can apply for partnership here.


What format do six-week courses take?

  • Please see the format notes associated with Cooking Matters six-week courses in our Comprehensive Chart. 


Can I choose to reformat a six-week course into another time frame, for instance, offer equivalent programming in a four or five-week format? 

  • Cooking Matters for Child Care Professionals is our only curricula that was developed for modular implementation.  The rest of our curricula was developed with the intent to create behavior change over time, and we recommend adhering to the six-week formatting.


If I’m interested in leading primarily Cooking Matters for Teens/Cooking Matters for Kids courses, am I still eligible for partnership with Cooking Matters? 

  • Our priority is to reach parents and caregivers of children ages 0-5. Partnership opportunities are available for organizations who plan to offer Cooking Matters for Parents, Cooking Matters for Childcare Professionals and/or Cooking Matters at the Store curricula. We are not currently accepting partnership applications for youth programming.

Can I substitute my organization's survey for the Cooking Matters survey?

  • No, you cannot substitute your organization's survey for the Cooking Matters survey. However, if you have additional questions your organization needs to collect you can attach them to our paper survey.


Cooking Matters at the Store


How much does it cost to host a tour?

  • Please see the costs associated with Cooking Matters at the Store in our Comprehensive Chart (include link).


Do I have to host a tour at a grocery store?

  • No, you can host a tour anywhere using our Pop-Up tour toolkit.  This toolkit is a set of electronic documents that you print in order to recreate the in-store experience.  All materials to create a Pop-Up tour kit are available in the Cooking Matters Resource Center, which is accessible to active partners.


Can I have a tour at a Farmers Market?

  • Yes, you can use our Pop-Up tour kit materials to host tours in a variety of settings, including farmers markets. 


Can I host a Cooking Matters six-week course and Cooking Matters at the Store tour for the same population?

  • The six-week Cooking Matters programming includes a grocery tour during the 5th class.  If you hold six-week courses, you would not additionally use the Cooking Matters at the Store tour program for those same people.  However, you may decide to use Cooking Matters at the Store tours as a way to initially engage participants, and then recruit six-week course participants from tour attendees. 


Are $10 gift cards required?

  • No, use of $10 gift cards is one way to incentivize participant attendance and engagement. However, other incentives include the participant book (available at no cost to partners), recipes, and the information provided.  You may also consider the use of taste tests or food demos to enhance the tour experience and encourage participant attendance.