UVU fights food insecurity with free cooking classes

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Valley University is going a step further in tackling food insecurity by holding free cooking classes with ingredients found in its student pantry and garden.

The Budget Cooking Classes are open to anyone who wants to learn, said university spokesperson Sharon Turner. In the classes, they cover the basics of cooking using items from the pantry and garden.

The classes come at an important time when food costs are rising, and a recent university survey showed nearly half of all Utah students struggle with some level of food insecurity.

UVU is the state's largest university and is not spared from the statistic. A fall 2018 UVU-specific survey illustrated the issue. Of the students who participated in the survey, 51% said they had days they were hungry, but didn't eat because they couldn't afford food.

"Last year alone we gave out more than 67,000 pounds of food," said Turner.

And for students who are on their own for the first time, they might not even know how to use ingredients they do have.

"I certainly remember when I started college," said Turner. "I was leaving my home for the first time and not quite sure how I was going to start learning how to cook. So these are skills that everyone could benefit from."

Students who are taking at least three credits a semester are able to access the pantry once a week, and the university also has a student-run garden for fresh produce.

"The Grit Garden is really nice because it's been supplementing UVU shelves with more fresh options rather than just canned produce," said Turner. "Those gardens are used by our agriculture students, and so everything is repurposed, reused and strategically done. So there's no waste."

She said the garden gave 16,000 pounds of food to UVU students last year.

The classes are held on Fridays with specific dates posted on the school's website.

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