Recipes for Health: Cooking Classes at the University of South Carolina

Combine ethnic cuisine, fun class themes and an emphasis on healthy cooking practices, and you have the University of South Carolina’s Columbia’s Cooking! program.  From Mediterranean cuisine to romantic “Date Night” classes, the program presents a full line of classes for both adults and children with the aim of promoting a love for healthy cooking and eating.  Dietician Brook Harmon, Director of Dietary Interventions at the University’s Cancer Prevention and Control Program, discusses the popularity of the program and the classes being offered.

Could you tell us a little about yourself and your responsibilities at the CPCP?

My background is in human nutrition and exercise science.  I am a registered and licensed dietitian and am also working on my PhD in health promotion, education, and behavior.  I began my work at CPCP designing and teaching diet and physical activity interventions for research studies related to cancer.  We do a lot of hands-on cooking in our research interventions and individuals who were not eligible for our studies still wanted to come and take the cooking classes.  This interest is what started the Columbia’s Cooking! program and our offering healthy cooking classes to the public.  Currently, I am considered CPCP’s Director of Dietary Interventions.  As such, my duties include overseeing diet and physical activity interventions related to research projects as well as running the Columbia’s Cooking! program.

What is the focus of the Healthy Cooking Classes?

We focus our classes on providing a variety of healthy cooking and eating experiences.  We consider our classes a way for participants to learn about new cuisines, cooking techniques, and recipes that they may not typically try because of worries about being unable to make the dishes, buy the ingredients, having the dish turn out poorly, etc.  At CPCP we research and know the importance of vegetable-based diets, the use of herbs and spices, and the need to lower the saturated fat, sugar and salt content in our diet.  We focus our classes on taking the research around what makes a healthy diet and helping our participants apply it to the dishes and meals they cook.

What kind of classes do you offer?  Which are the most popular?

We do classes focused on specific cuisines such as Mediterranean and Indian cuisine.  We do classes focused on gourmet dishes, quick cooking dishes, and family-friendly dishes.  We also have summer culinary camps for kids to get children into the kitchen and interested in cooking healthy foods.  The Mediterranean classes (we have a series and individual classes) are very popular. They are taught by the First Lady of the University of South Carolina (where our program is housed) and fill up in a matter of hours.  We do “Date Night” classes once a month on a Friday evening, which are really popular for husbands and wives and couples who want a different option for going out.  Our grilling class and Valentine’s themed date nights were very popular.  Our culinary camps for kids are also popular during the summer.

Who teaches the classes?

I oversee all the recipes and class themes.  I also teach a lot of the classes.  We have guest lecturers such as Patricia Moore-Pastides, the First Lady of USC, who teach classes.  I also have a few students and staff who are gradually taking over the teaching of classes as we expand the number and types of classes we offer.

What responses do you get from your students?

The students in our classes have positive things to say.  We get a lot of repeat students and a lot of students who heard about us from friends who have attended classes.  We don’t have a huge budget for advertising and we try to keep class prices down so we rely on word of mouth, a list that people can sign up for and receive emails from us, and partners (a local hospital, kitchen shop, organic grocery store) to help us promote the program.  So far, our reputation and interest in the classes being offered have filled the majority of our classes.

Photograph by Tom Johnson.  Published with permission.