The Best Food We Ever Ate: Nourishment Beyond the Plate

Nourishment Beyond the Plate is back for a second round, and the program's growth to 48 participants couldn't make Kelly Timmons happier.

"I'm so glad we were able to put this together again and be able to quadruple almost our people," says Kelly, founder of Kelly's Kitchen. "It's heartwarming to see that they get the value out of it."

Kelly’s Kitchen’s Nourishment Beyond the Plate program provides people with disabilities in Beaufort, South Carolina, with cooking instruction, ingredients, kitchen supplies, and independent living skill-building. Participants receive an accessible cooking kit — including an induction cooktop, rocker knife, and multi-purpose pan — along with hands-on classes designed to build the confidence and skills needed to prepare healthy meals at home.

"I don't think these folks had ever been given the space or the opportunity to do any of this."

— Rachel Kaplan, Operations Director, Kelly's Kitchen

They Just Needed the Space

This round, Kelly's Kitchen opened the program to disabled people living in assisted living and supported housing, in addition to those living independently. “This allowed us to expand the number of people we could reach,” says Rachel Kaplan, Operations Director and Program Developer at Kelly’s Kitchen.

This iteration of the cooking series allowed for a sustainability element to be implemented in Beaufort as well with Beaufort Disability and Special Needs. Instead of each individual receiving a cooking kit, we provided the facility with three kits that can be used to teach additional cooking classes. This gives the staff the opportunity to keep this skill-building activity going long after the reach of this program through Kelly’s Kitchen.

Each day had two groups, with the first group needing more support. Most of them had never used a knife before. "We walked them through the rocker knife, explained how to hold a pan handle, covered the basics — stuff that experienced cooks take for granted," says Rachel Kaplan. "I don't think these folks had ever been given the space or the opportunity to do any of this."

The second group were largely returning participants from the previous class. They remembered Rachel, and they asked about Kelly the whole time. When they got into the cooking, they took over — spreading out one per table and teaching the newer participants the same way they had once been taught. "One of them told a newer participant: 'I'll cut this vegetable — I'm good at cooking. You stir, because you haven't done this stuff before,'" says Rachel.

They made a Gullah Geechee one-pot Creole sausage with rice. "No shrimp — I'm allergic, and I was the only instructor there," says Rachel. "They kept telling me to just go outside. But then who would teach the class?"

Kelly will be at the next one, and they'll finally get their shrimp gumbo.

The Ripple Effect

The ripple effect extended beyond the participants. Three or four staff members cooked alongside the class each session, picking up skills they took home — and some of them cook for participants on weekends. "It's kind of a side benefit of this program," Rachel noted. "We're also teaching people who don't necessarily need independent living skill-building. They're increasing their cooking skills as well."

Then there's Devin, a returning participant who told Rachel he hasn't used his stove since getting his induction cooktop two years ago. It just sits on top of it. During the original class he was always working, so he'd watch the recorded video at home and make the recipe himself — then text Rachel pictures of his finished meal.

Another participant cooked for his mother for the first time. "I told my mama, 'You go sit down, I'm cooking dinner tonight,'" he told Kelly afterward. "Miss Kelly, you won't believe it. It was the best food we ever ate."

Kelly's Kitchen's Nourishment Beyond the Plate program provides people with disabilities with cooking instruction, ingredients, accessible kitchen supplies, and independent living skill-building — with intentional attention to food justice, disability justice, and cultural competency.