Good Food: What to Eat & Where to Shop

Learn everything you need to know about eating well, all culled from a decade of teaching cooking classes and staying up-to-date on the food world.

The Top 10 Things You Need Know to be the best educated Grocery Shopper and Cook

While there is plenty to learn about food from a good cooking class, there is still a lot of food education that needs to happen before you head to the kitchen. First you have to go grocery shopping.

We want to arm you with the most valuable information you'll need to make the best choices from amongst all those lining the supermarket shelves. This is not a class about calorie-counting or low-fat foods. Food education is much more than that. Today's well-informed food shoppers and cooks know that keywords like local, organic, bio-diverse, eco-friendly, grass-fed, humane, wild, and extra-virgin all tell a much better story about the food we eat than its packaging.

But what do all these terms mean and which matter most? That is what we want to illuminate so our students can make the right decisions each time they set foot in the grocery store, farmers' market, or restaurant.

Overview:

1.How to Shop for Produce. Organic vs. conventional; what produce you should always buy organic; why small local farms are often better than "organic"; what is bio-diversity?

2.How to Shop for Meat. Understanding the vast differences between your choices (farm-raised vs. wild-caught fish, grass-fed vs. corn-fed beef, cage-free vs. free-range chickens, commercial animal farms vs. small farms). How to buy eggs.

3.Good Fats vs. Bad Fats. What fats and oils to buy, which to avoid, and why. Why skim milk and low-fat processed foods actually make you gain weight. How to choose a good olive oil and coconut oil.

4.Salt. Sea salt vs table salt vs kosher salt. Hidden sodium (processed foods and beverages)

5. Sugar. How your body processes sugar. Understanding the glycemic index of foods. How carbohydrates = sugar. Complex vs. simple carbohydrates.

6.Understanding Food Labels.How to read a package label: the nutritional information, the ingredients, and manufacturers' claims. What is GMO? And how do big companies like Heinz make "organic" ketchup?

7.Eating Locally. As a residents of the tri-state area, we are lucky to have access to so much locally-grown food. We'll cover why local is best, how to find it, and how to get it delivered right to your front door. Also, what should you buy at the farmer’s market vs. the supermarket.

8.Organizing Your Kitchen. How to stock your refrigerator and pantry so you can cook quick and delicious meals at the spur of the moment.

9. Food Shopping & Menu Planning. How to organize your weekly shopping and cooking habits so you can maximize the number of home-cooked foods your eat; how to shop economically so you can avoid throwing away food at the end of the week; how to safely store ingredients so they last longer.

10. Recipes. We will send you home with a full packet to get you started.