What's Cooking on 1060: Sunday Suppers
By Hadas Kuznits
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A program that helps teach families how to cook healthy meals together held their first "graduation" this summer. The "Sunday Suppers" program in Kensington will pick up again with a new group of families in September.
Sunday Suppers founder Linda Samost says over the course of nine months, families that don't have a lot of means gather weekly to learn to cook.
"We help them access healthier food, learn how to prepare it, and then sit around and have a family meal together."
Samost says program participants gather at Memphis Street Academy in Lower Kensington. As part of the set-up, they have conversation starter questions on their tables.
"For a lot of folks who don't sit down and eat together, which is a lot of our families, it's awkward sometimes to sit down and have a conversation."
The family meal is the centerpiece of Sunday Suppers.
"There's a lot of research that shows that families that eat together have far-reaching benefits for the kids, for the adults, for communication."
At the end of the meal, families receive a gift bag.
"And in that bag is everything they need to replicate the main item that they had to eat."
Samost says she's amazed by the strength of the families her organization serves.
"The resilience of folks that are really challenged; have a lot of violence in their lives, and when you think about all they have to deal with, the fact that they can make this a priority, to me, is astounding."
Hear the full podcast (runs 20:19)…
And for this week, that's "What's Cooking on 1060!"
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