A Healthy Start to your New Year!

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Want to jump start some healthy eating habits in the new year? Did you know you can take a nutrition class or a cooking class right here at the Worcester Public Library?  As part of WPL's  Food Literacy programming, healthy cooking classes are taught monthly at the Main Library in the Saxe Room on Saturday afternoons from 2:00 to 3:30.  We have partnered with Colin McCullough of VegWorcester and Chef Kim Youkstetter, culinary instructor at Worcester Technical High School.  Colin has been a vegan for over 25 years and focuses his classes on plant-based and whole foods.  Their popular classes cover current and seasonal topics including:

Healthy Holiday Baking, Amazing Vegan Sauces, Gluten-Free Cooking, Fresh Whole-Food Soups, Breakfast Smoothies that Taste Like Dessert, Tea Party Appetizers, Fresh Summer Salads, Grilled & Chilled, Using an Air Fryer: Making Fried Food Healthier,  Homemade Pasta.  

Nutrition classes are taught by the UMass Extension Nutrition Education Program and also include a brief cooking demo. They are typically offered on Tuesday afternoons at the Main Library.  Past topics include:

Making Healthy Choices for People Living with Diabetes, Choosing Healthy Snacks – Limiting Sugars, Benefits of Fruits and Vegetables, Moderation is the Key: Cutting Back on Fats,  Healthy Eating for Healthy Living
WPL's most recent cooking class was held on Saturday, January 12, 2019. Colin McCullough was back to teach Unprocess Your Plate!  This class tied together all of the classes he has taught here at the library over the past year.  Colin gave an introduction on all the basics needed to start an unprocessed diet.  He recommended kitchen appliances and accessories, demonstrated how to prep and freeze make-ahead recipe ingredients, highlighted some recipe substitutions, recommended where to purchase local, fresh ingredients on a budget, and stressed how sauces are the key to eating whole grains, legumes and veggies.  

The class also got a sneak preview of
his soon to be published vegan cookbook.

Join us for Colin’s next class, “Smoothies that taste like Girl Scout cookies” on Saturday, February 9 from 2:00 – 3:00 in the Saxe Room at the Main Library. Click here to register.

Click here to sample some titles from our catalog Vegan Book List

WPL also hosted two special programs this past year. The fourth annual Celebration of Coffee, where over 100 people gathered to sample and learn about coffees from around the world.   

The library was also host to New York City based Korean Spirit & Culture Promotion Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of Korean history and culture. They presented their program, Hidden Wonders of Korea, to an audience of 75 who got to sample a Korean meal.