General
How long can we use Cooking Matters materials?
Partners may continue to use the Cooking Matters materials. However, it is pertinent to acknowledge that Share Our Strength will cease to offer support or updates for the Cooking Matters materials.
Will we have signed partner agreements and dashboard goals for our organization in partnership with SOS/CM?
No, we are discontinuing the practice of entering into signed partner agreements and utilizing dashboard goals for our organizational partnerships with SOS/CM. However, partners will retain access to resources, and historical reports via the Salesforce platform.
How should we refer to CM moving forward? Should the program be referenced when applying for funding, referencing co-branded work?
Organizations may continue using the title “Cooking Matters.” However, as of September 2024, we kindly request that organizations refrain from using the Share Our Strength brand or logo on any Cooking Matters programming materials. Your understanding and cooperation in this matter are greatly appreciated.
Do we have permission to update any Cooking Materials on our own? Are there any restrictions to editing and usage of materials?
Until September 30, 2024, organizations should refrain from making any adjustments to the Cooking Matters curricula. Share Our Strength is actively exploring the possibility of collaborating with an approved organization to assume responsibility for the Cooking Matters program. Once the organization assumes responsibility, rules of usage for the Cooking Matters program will be provided in accordance with their policies and procedures.
We will keep you informed with updates on the plans for the Cooking Matters program beyond September 30, 2024, as soon as they become available.
Will NKH provide other FSE interventions?
Food skills education will remain part of our work supporting health strategies and early childhood and we continue to share the resources already developed.
Have you done some type of scan to see if there are other organizations/similar programs you'd recommend to all of us out here? With your stamp of approval?
Leah's Pantry, Color Me Healthy/NC State University, Eating Smart Being, Cooking with Kids, Create Better Health/ Utah State, 10 Tips for Adults / Maine SNAP-Ed, Stay Strong, Stay Healthy / Missouri Extension, Healthy Choices for Every Body, Strong People Strong Hearts, Telephonic Health Coaching Toolkit, Together We Inspire Smart Eating (WISE), Brighter Bites
Cooking in a SNAP Implemented exclusively by Univ. of MN Extension.
What will be done for partners in the future wanting to continue a Cooking Matters nutrition education program?
Share Our Strength is committed to offering ongoing assistance to our valued partners until September 30, 2024. Following that date, we encourage our partners to explore alternative nutrition education programs. Alternatively, partners may choose to continue utilizing the Cooking Matters materials, understanding that these resources will no longer receive support from Share Our Strength.
Can another agency take over?
Yes, Share Our Strength is open to allowing another agency to take over Cooking Matters. In the event that another organization should take over the work of Cooking Matters, we would be willing and eager to convey the brand and digital assets, as well as work with them to ensure a smooth transition for the existing audience and content.
What system will be used to connect current CM partners nationwide after this transition?
Every partner will be able to reach out to fellow partners via our website cookingmatters.org. On the website, there is a dedicated section for Cooking Matters partners, which includes a hyperlink to facilitate partner connections. Link to partner directory: Cooking Matters.
Will Cooking Matters accept new Cooking Matters partners?
Regrettably, we will no longer accept new partners, and we will not be able to staff support for Cooking Matters after October 15, 2023. However, we understand the value of the resources we have developed over time, and we want to make them available to those who find them valuable. Therefore, we have decided to offer the Cooking Matters materials for download on our Cooking Matters website. We anticipate that our Cooking Matters resources, including the newly updated Cooking Matters Core curricula will be available on our website until September 30, 2024.
It is possible at one point that we were a partner. Is there a way to find that out?
To determine if you were a previous partner, please send the name of our organization to our helpdesk (add link), a member of the team will respond within 72 hours.
Accessing Curricula
How to Access Materials for Current Cooking Matters Partners for FY24
We understand that many of our partners depend on the Cooking Matters materials and want to make sure that these resources are available. While we have made the difficult decision to discontinue active support for the Cooking Matters program, we also recognize the value of the resources.
As a part of our commitment to our current Cooking Matters partners, we plan to provide our current partners with a designated number of printed Cooking Matters legacy curricula (Cooking Matters for Parents, Cooking Matters for Families, Cooking Matters at the Store, Cooking Matters for Child Care Professionals) based on the quantity you ordered in FY23. We have communicated next steps about curricula fulfillment with the partner network - ff you have specific questions about the amount of funds you have been granted, please reach out to us via the help desk or by emailing cmhelp@strength.org.
Share Our Strength will also provide funding for two complimentary copies of the Cooking Matters Core materials per partner. However, partners are interested in purchasing extra copies, they have the option to purchase them for printing at their own expense. If needed, additional copies of the newly updated Cooking Matters Core materials are available for purchase through September 30, 2024. Link to access CM materials: https://cookingmatters.printtailor.app/
Will satellite partners also receive legacy and CORE curricula?
Yes, all current partners will receive both the legacy and CORE curricula. Organizations will have the option to order legacy materials at no cost, up to the same amount as FY23. They will also receive two copies of the CORE curricula.
Can you release full pdfs of all of the curriculums and instructor guides?
Partners will have access to download full PDF versions of the Core materials until September 30, 2024. Downloadable versions of the materials are available on the cookingmatters.org website. Partners also have access to the Legacy guides for print only through our fulfillment vendor: https://cookingmatters.printtailor.app/ .
Would you recommend not using CM legacy materials (specifically CMCCP) beyond FY24?
The Cooking Matters team worked diligently to provide important updates to the Cooking Matters updated Core materials. They are the most up-to-date, and therefore, we encourage you to use the updated Core materials. However, if you are a SNAP-Ed approved program, the Cooking Matters legacy materials are the approved option.
Calagaz Support
Please reach out to Calagaz directly for support at support@calagaz.com.
Program Administration and Evaluation
How to Access Salesforce Reports
Salesforce will be accessible until September 30, 2024. During this period, users can retrieve reports and historical data.Partners who currently have access to the report functionality in Salesforce will have full access to all of their data until September of 2024. Our team is working on compiling the existing reports that we think will be most useful and will bundle them together in a folder for easy access. If you are a pilot user, please reach out to the Help Desk to request that we run these reports on your behalf.
Will anyone be collecting data?
Current Cooking Matters partners will retain access to Salesforce until September 30, 2024, for data entry, data maintenance, and report generation. Logging programmatic and survey data is no longer required, however partners are welcome to utilize Salesforce as they see fit.
Will SOS support evaluation? Or can organizations use their own evaluation materials?
Organizations are no longer required to use Cooking Matters participant survey materials and are welcome to use other methods and materials for their evaluation needs. However, Share Our Strength will provide printable versions of the surveys and data assessment tools for legacy curricula on the Help Desk and links to electronic versions will be functional in Qualtrics until June 30, 2024. A printable version of a survey to support Core will be hosted on CookingMatters.org. We are still assessing whether or not to provide a Qualtrics link for this survey.
Following the transition of Cooking Matters, Share Our Strength decided not to pursue further evaluation of the updated curricula, Cooking Matters Core. However, Share Our Strength is open to providing guidance to an approved organization interested in evaluating Cooking Matters Core.
Do we still need to register each Cooking Matters class/series we schedule in Salesforce?
This is no longer necessary, but partners can use Salesforce to log programming and complete surveys using the survey links, if desired, through September 2024. Share Our Strength is no longer requiring implementing organizations to record programs in Salesforce. However, if your team chooses to continue to use the Cooking Matters participant surveys you will still need to add programs to Salesforce so that you can generate a program code AND access the survey results.
Available Resources
Status of the Cooking Matters Portal
Regrettably, because we will no longer provide programming or training for the Cooking Matters materials, we have also decided not to proceed with the Cooking Matters portal as initially planned. However, we understand the value of the resources we've developed over time, and we want to make them available to those who find them valuable. The newly updated Cooking Matters Core materials will be available for purchase through our website. The link will go live for ordering on August 14, 2023 and close for ordering on September 30, 2024 (https://cookingmatters.org/).
Which Cooking Matters social media platforms will remain accessible, and how long will they remain accessible?
As we continue to transition the Cooking Matters programming, we also made the difficult decision to retire most of the Cooking Matters digital channels, and products, but plan to do this over the next 12 months. We will retain the Cooking Matters.org website, and YouTube channel to ensure that resources and tutorial videos are accessible. While we will not have any ongoing Cooking Matters program work or dedicated staff, we understand that many of the resources are valuable to our partners and therefore will leave those channels (Cooking Matters Website, and YouTube channel) accessible until September 2024. The Cooking Matters.org website and YouTube channel will remain accessible with the following resources:
Cooking Matters Core (digital versions English and Spanish)
Tutorial Videos
Sample terms of usage waiver
CM survey
Links to additional resources (ex. salesforce, helpdesk)
Will the cookingmatters.org website remain accessible After September, 2024?
The Cooking Matters.org website will remain accessible until September 30, 2024. After September 30, 2024 a determination will be made on which resources will remain accessible and where those materials will be housed. However, we will shut down the cookingmatters.org website.
Will we still be able to access Cooking Matters recipes online?
The existing recipes will continue to be accessible on the website until September 30, 2024. The current recipe page will not receive any further updates; only the currently available recipes will be available on the website.
Will the facilitator training remain live on the CM website?
Yes, the existing Cooking Matters facilitator training materials currently on the CM website will continue to be available through Sept. 2024. We also will be posting five new facilitator training videos that are complementary to the new Cooking Matters Core; these resources will be posted alongside the Core curricula and resources at https://cookingmatters.org/core.
What if we have new staff that needs to be trained?
New staff should be referred to the facilitator training materials on the CM website through September 2024. There is also an excellent community of skilled Cooking Matters partners who may be willing to assist with training questions. A list of those partners can also be found on the website through September 2024.
SNAP-Ed
Has the new curricula been approved for the SNAP-Ed toolkit?
No, The newly updated Cooking Matters curricula (CORE) has not been approved for inclusion in the SNAP-Ed toolkit as an evidence-based intervention. Following the transition of Cooking Matters, Share Our Strength decided not to pursue further evaluation of the updated curricula (CORE). However, Share Our Strength is open to providing guidance to an approved organization interested in evaluating Cooking Matters (CORE). Additionally, some states are piloting the newly updated curricula within their FFY24 plans, considering it an emerging intervention.
Will the legacy curricula remain in the SNAP-Ed toolkit for FY24?
Yes, through FFY24 (September 2024), but only accessible to our current partners.
What are the implications on SNAP-Ed?
We hope that your work and completion of SNAP-Ed deliverables for the current FFY23 will not be immediately impacted. However, we want to acknowledge that things will change as Share Our Strength's staff capacity to support the work and partners diminishes.
To assist during this transition, Share Our Strength will provide free access to the digital version of the Cooking Matters curricula (CORE) for download. Additionally, partners will have access to the YouTube channel and salesforce through FFY24, allowing them to honor SNAP-Ed plans that have already been submitted. However, it's important to note that the most significant implications for SNAP-Ed will arise in FFY25 when the materials will no longer be available through Share Our Strength.
We currently have an MOA with SOS until October 2023. Through this agreement, we have established agreement with community partners to provide SNAP-Ed using the CM- SOS program. What recommendations would you make from a contractual standpoint to be able to continue provide same service to our existing partners with the current agreements?
All current agreements will be honored through September 2023 and we encourage you to do the same with your partners. We are putting systems into place that will allow current partners to access programming curriculum and materials. These new systems will continue through September of 2024 to align with submitted SNAP-Ed plans and include Cooking Matters. We will not be renewing any programming agreements, however you will be asked to sign a user agreement when accessing the legacy and the new Core curriculum.
Will organizations be able to use any Cooking Matters interventions through 9/30/24? What about after 9/30/24?
Until September 30, 2024, current partners will have access to and use of both the Legacy Cooking Matters curriculum and the new Cooking Matters Core Lessons. We will provide updates on the process to access Cooking Matters Interventions beyond September 30, 2024, once a decision is made.