Local Matters

Each of our four programs operates individually and comprises direct-service components including hands-on nutrition education for children and adults, gardening/growing assistance, and fresh food delivery. This work is essential to the health of Central-Ohio residents. The existing food system is broken and fails to provide adequate nutrition for many of our community’s most vulnerable citizens.

Food Matters is a 24-week food and ecology curriculum that provides children with an understanding of what healthful food is, where it comes from, how it grows, and how to prepare it.

Through the Veggie Van Program, Local Matters delivers low-cost, pre-packed bags of fresh fruits and vegetables to neighborhoods where access to these foods is limited.

Cooking Matters is a comprehensive food and nutrition education program designed to decrease hunger and prevent obesity among low-income parents and their children. Cooking Matters empowers participants to cook affordable, healthful meals for themselves and their families through lessons that teach culinary skills and nutrition, hands-on lessons in meal preparation, and a lesson in food shopping taught at a grocery store.

Growing Matters is Local Matters’ innovative gardening program that provides the education and the physical resources necessary to create food-production gardens at schools, at community centers, and in front- and backyards.