Our Food Skills Education program empowers community members to take control of their food and health through practical, hands-on learning. Designed to foster self-sufficiency and deeper community connection, our courses offer a comprehensive pathway for participants to master essential skills, from scratch cooking and nutritional meal planning to food preservation and home gardening. By reducing barriers to knowledge and utilizing locally sourced, culturally relevant ingredients, we enable families, youth, and seniors to grow, save, and prepare nutritious meals that honor our local food traditions.

Since expanding our programming, we have facilitated dozens of workshops and classes, reaching over 600 Puebloans, that do more than just teach kitchen basics; they build confidence, inspire intergenerational collaboration, and strengthen our local food culture. Whether learning to preserve the harvest or preparing a healthy family meal from scratch, participants gain the agency to make informed choices for their health. By cultivating this resilient network of informed eaters and home growers, we are bridging gaps in the food system and ensuring that every neighbor has the knowledge and resources to thrive.

Pueblo Food Project has been a lead provider of accessible food skills education in Pueblo since 2021. This program was supported by the Colorado Attorney General's Office through 2024, and is now supported by the Denver Foundation through the Belonging Colorado initiative. Nourishing Connections, our food skills education series through Belonging Colorado, brings in a focus of community connection and bridging across lines of difference. In Nourishing Connections, participants work together to cook and garden, and in the process they learn more about one another, share their knowledge and stories, and form meaningful connections across lines of difference.

Outcomes from Nourishing Connections include:
- An increase in participants cooking meals at home and citing new skills learned.
- An increase in youth participants contributing towards household cooking.
- An increase in nutrition education/knowledge among participants
- Participants have a deeper understanding and connection to Pueblo’s local food culture and history.
- Participants feel a sense of culture and connection around food in their own family and community.
- Participants learn something new about other cultures and/or identities that they previously didn’t know.

Interested to learn more or get involved? 
Reach out to Lindy, lindy@pueblofoodproject.org, to get on a class waitlist, sign up to volunteer, or be the first to hear about our food skills education offerings in the future!