Meals of Hope teaches families Crock-Pot cooking techniques

Meals of Hope helped feed hungry families on Tuesday in Immokalee by teaching them kitchen techniques they can use with items they get from food pantries.

Until Tuesday, Verdier Clemet did not have the resources to know feeding healthy meals to his kids would be so easy. His daughter said they usually eat “cereal for dinner” and that is what brought them to the class.

“It’s a good lesson,” Clemet said, “because without education you won’t know.”

Stephen Popper, the CEO and president of Meals of Hope, said about 45% of what the North Naples based non-profit gives away is either frozen or fresh. But not many people know how to prepare those types of foods.

Popper said the families that come to them for help work hard and that is why a Crock-Pot is a great solution, especially for time management.

“By the time they come home, they don’t have time to prepare good healthy food because of time management,” Popper said. “It’s easy to buy a pizza or stop by McDonald’s. Instead, let’s use what we give out and learn to prepare.”