In August 2023, Kelly Lauren started using WIC.
With this federal food program for women, infants and children, also called WIC, Lauren could go to the grocery store and not pay out of pocket for certain foods. Milk, cheese, eggs, cereals, produce, vegetable juices, beans, peas and peanut butter, for example, are on the approved foods list – but only certain varieties of each.
Lauren, a 28-year-old pastor at Archer First United Methodist Church and Celebration United Methodist Church, experienced challenges using WIC – especially at the checkout line.
“I swear going to the grocery store was an all-day affair because you have the list of things that are approved, but then under the list there are certain caveats,” Lauren said. “Like you can get this brand of yogurt as long as the sugar content is under this level, or for some reason these flavors are OK, and these flavors are not - it's very particular.”
Learning what to make with the foods WIC provides was not easy either.
“I think one of the other things, too, is figuring out how to cook with raw ingredients. Honestly, I'm still working on that one,” Lauren said.
Lauren was inspired to develop cooking classes at her church that can help people who use WIC.
“This class is just as much for me as it is for anybody else that would be attending because I'm trying to learn this stuff as I go along,” Lauren said. “So, just trying to figure out the best tips and tricks, the ways to go about getting the most bang for your buck.”
She also said she wants to make food that is good for children.
Starting Feb. 18, Archer First United Methodist Church will host cooking classes every first and third Sunday of the month. The classes will start at 4 p.m. and last about two hours. People who attend the classes will learn recipes and make the recipes while in the class.
The recipe for the first class is already set.
“For this first one, we're going to be making two different things, a yogurt fruit bark and egg bites like frittatas. So, it's going to be focused on recipes that can be made quickly but can also be frozen and stored,” Lauren said.
The recipes come from Lauren’s ideas along with ideas from members of the church.
“The second week looks like it's cabbage steaks,” Lauren said. “One of the members of my team made it for dinner a few nights ago, and she was telling me about it. I told her, ‘You know what, that sounds great.’”
Lauren and members of the church will mostly teach the classes. However, there are people outside of the church who have offered recipes and volunteered to teach a class, such as Alachua County Commissioner Mary Alford.
Alford said she has many recipes to share that are cheap and filling. She said the recipes have helped her in the past.
“I was a single mom with four kids and there were times I donated plasma so I had enough money to feed my kids. I learned how to make a lot of things from scratch and very inexpensively,” Alford said.
Alford is looking forward to sharing her recipes and tips with other mothers and families.
“One of the things in some of the WIC distributions is canned tuna. I used to take a can of tuna and stretch it with a pound of macaroni into a curried macaroni salad with lots of vegetables,” Alford said. “I look forward to sharing things like that.”
Alford also wants to help strengthen families through her recipes. Growing up in a family of eleven, she remembers mealtimes being the moments when her family could talk and connect.
“I see a lot of young parents have come from backgrounds where, perhaps, their parents had to work and they didn't get to experience that,” Alford said. “So, if there's any way that I can help a family add at least some of that into their lives. I think it's great for everybody.”
While the classes are designed for WIC recipients because the recipes that will be taught include only foods provided by WIC, anyone can attend. The food used in the classes will also be provided by local food banks.
All cooking supplies will be provided for people who participate in the classes. Recipe cards will be given to participants to take home along with the food they made during the class.
Sign-ups sheets for the cooking classes will be available online two weeks before the first class. Lauren said the sign ups will be by class. There will be about 10 cooking stations at the classes.
The number of people who can attend a class is based on the number of cooking stations. So, only 10 people or families can attend a class at a time. The church will also provide childcare. The classes will operate for about a year, Lauren said.
The idea for the cooking classes came from a brainstorming session between Lauren and her co-pastor Melissa Pisco in September 2023. Lauren said they both thought the idea was possible, but after considering the logistics the idea became more of a reality.
The pastors received approval from the church in December 2023, then later received a grant to fund the food and supplies needed for the program. The grant, Ware Grant, was provided through the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church.
While the focus of the class is to help WIC recipients, Lauren believes this program is also an opportunity to build a stronger community.