Food Smarts

Program Overview
Food Smarts (preview) is a flexible, learner-centered cooking and nutrition curriculum with materials and lesson plans appropriate for K-12 youth and adults (including older adults). The curriculum was revamped in 2022 to align with trauma-informed principles and the most recent Dietary Guidelines.
- The Adult and Kids Instructor Guides offer lesson plans with different class/series lengths that can be customized for your situation.
- Adult Workbooks are in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, and Korean. Kids Workbooks are in English.
- Included in the USDA SNAP-Ed Toolkit.
- Facilitator training is required.
- Evaluation tools are available but not required to be used. (Food Smarts Kids was tested with 4th and 5th graders.)
Coming soon!
- We are developing new lesson plans, instructor materials, and participant handouts to better respond to participants with physical and cognitive disabilities, veterans, and tribal populations.
- We are developing a “Master Train the Trainer” program for our experienced facilitators who would like to train others in their agency or community to deliver Food Smarts.
Training Description
Become a Food Smarts Curriculum facilitator and deliver healthy, nutritional cooking lessons and nutrition messaging aligned with trauma-informed principles to your community.
After successfully completing Food Smarts, you will be able to:
- Facilitate Food Smarts workshops in your community with youth and adult participants
- Incorporate a trauma-informed perspective into nutrition education and workshop facilitation
- Utilize the Food Smarts lesson plans and curriculum materials to tailor your workshops to your community
- Note: Food Smarts Waste Reduction, materials are not covered in this training
This course is free for CFHL- funded agencies. What does this mean?
For agency staff, volunteers, and community leaders.
Self-paced + 2 live Zoom sessions (see Training Calendar)
If an agency has multiple participants, each participant must register separately to gain access to our online training system.
Training Customizations
Leah’s Pantry offers a variety of customizable training options. Contact us to learn more.