Episode Transcript
[00:00:12] Speaker A: May is National Older Americans Month, and today we're proud to shine a light on a powerful program helping fight senior hunger in our communities.
It's called the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, or csfp, also known as the Senior Box.
This federal program supports adults age 60 and older with low incomes by providing a monthly box of nutritious, shelf, stable USDA foods. We're talking essentials like cereal, pasta, peanut butter, canned goods, cheese and juice.
Simple ingredients that go a long way in keeping our communities and neighbors healthy and nourished.
In today's episode, we'll learn how CSFP works and why it matters. But we won't stop there. Thanks to our friends at Second Harvest Food bank of Champaign Clark in Logan Counties, we got to see this program in action.
We joined their weekly cooking class at a local senior center where participants turn these box ingredients into a real delicious meal.
So stick around as we go behind the scenes, share some stories, and even cook up a little Mac and cheese with Second Harvest Food bank ccl.
[00:01:24] Speaker B: Let's get started.
[00:01:29] Speaker C: So we are making our CSFP Mac and cheese today.
So the items in this recipe, everything but my cheddar cheese comes from the CSFP box.
So our elbow macaroni, our shelf stable milk, and our cheese that comes in our CSFP box are the main components that are going to make this recipe what it is. And then the extras that I brought with me are just my spices that I already had in my cabinet.
So this is a very inexpensive meal to make and a very filling meal to make.
And then our dessert, we're going to do an easy peach cobbler. So Sandy from our cooking class wrote this recipe out for me and I looked at it and I said, wow, it looks really easy. So we're going to do it.
So this is a very easy recipe with minimal ingredients.
Our canned peaches are going to come from our CSFP box and my stick of butter, my sugar, my flour, my baking powder, things I already had in my cabinet at home. And then our shelf stable milk comes in the box as well. So these are two very inexpensive recipes to work with from the CSFP box.
So while I have my water trying to boil, I am going to go get my cheddar cheese out of the freezer. I froze it so I can shred it easier. So I'll shred that up and get that ready.
So I will be right back. I actually we can. I think we're getting there. So we'll add some of this pasta. Now I want my pasta to be really, really cheesy.
So I'm only going to add in half of this box versus a whole whole box.
If you are low sodium though, if you are low sodium or have sodium restrictions, I would probably talk to your doctor.
So I'm using mild cheddar for this. You guys can use whatever cheese you like to use. If you like to use a sharp cheddar, you can use sharp cheddar.
I have red pepper flakes if you want to add that.
He brings hot sauce to every class.
Yeah, he likes this. He likes to add a little heat to his.
Last week we did egg roll in a bowl.
We did egg roll in a bowl last week and we had sriracha sauce to put on it or sweet chili sauce. It turned out really good and lots of veggies in it. It was really fresh. We used a ground turkey instead of like ground beef or.
Well, we can thank Snap Ed for those cookbooks because it was in that cookbook.
We, these ladies got the cookbooks and we have been doing recipes out of the cookbook and we've really enjoyed using it.
Maybe that's our goal one day. Come up with a cookbook from our cooking class.
That's a good idea.
What would you guys think?
Would you help me?
You want me to do the cooking class and do the.
I'll do it all the time.
No. What'd you say? Where's my aprons?
So we're going to let this boil and I don't. This, this top is just not the best for boiling because it's a flat top and it just doesn't get hot fast. So we'll wait for that and then I'll cut up the rest of my cheese because once we drain our pasta, we'll just add everything in here, melt our cheeses together, throw our pasta in and then that's we're done.
It's that easy.
A little tidbit for you, Ms. Audrey, is Judy gets our commodity box, but she has, is it your grandson who's 15 that lives with her?
So she comes to this class and learns how to make these hearty meals and then can go home and feed herself and her 15 year old nephew who is going to eat her out of house and home.
So she gets a lot of good.
And so far we've been doing good though, haven't we?
Yeah, we've been hitting it on the head for him.
[00:05:57] Speaker D: So.
[00:05:59] Speaker C: Exactly. Yeah.
How are we doing on this pasta? Oh, we're boiling. That's good.
We're making progress here.
Well, I guess I better get started. On this while our pasta is cooking so that we can kind of have dinner and dessert together.
All right, I'm gonna go drain my pasta. I'll be back, guys.
Okay, guys, I'm back.
Part phase two.
All right, now we're going to add our stuff into our pan, so our cheeses and our spices to start mixing that stuff up for our Mac and cheese so we can finish that off, and then we'll get started on our cobbler.
Well, I feel bad that we're making Sandy's recipe and she's not here, but.
Okay, hold on.
[00:07:03] Speaker B: Focus.
[00:07:04] Speaker C: 3, 4 cup of milk. Let's add that first cheddar cheese.
And then velveeta cheese, and then we'll add our spices in, and then we'll just keep mixing this until it's mixed.
What is it telling me for my onion powder?
Is it a fourth?
What about my garlic powder? The same.
How much pepper?
A fourth?
[00:07:49] Speaker B: Four? Yeah.
[00:07:53] Speaker C: Smoked paprika somewhere. A fourth.
Smoked paprika, Did she say? All this can be doubled at the house?
Bingo's getting out. It's a huge crowd. If you could not find a parking spot in the front, it's because of bingo.
I can't wait to belong here. Hey, welcome in. How are you? You must have been at bingo, huh?
Well, good. I'm glad you came.
You won.
Tell me what you won't.
Something fun.
Oh, man, I can't wait.
When I'm 55, it's over for you guys.
[00:08:51] Speaker B: That looks so good there.
[00:08:55] Speaker C: We're getting there, guys. It's combining. We're just waiting for that Velveeta to melt down all the way.
I would like to add, too, that. I did add extra seasoning to this because I feel like we need some flavor with this.
All right, this is all melted.
So now the pasta goes in.
It's stuck in there.
I just put our seasonings in it, but I put a little bit of extra seasoning. I'm making a mess.
Well, my pasta wouldn't drop in there. All right.
Oh, you guys. Creamy. Creamy. Oh, man. I'm ready.
It is very, very creamy.
Just in case.
That's all right. There you have it.
Does anybody put breadcrumbs or panko on top and bake it? I don't, but I was wondering if anybody did.
Okay, you guys, I'm gonna do start working on the cobbler. In her recipe, it says to melt the butter in the pan in the oven, but I'm just gonna melt the butter in the microwave and then pour it in the Pan, because the microwave's right around the corner here.
The oven has been preheated. Yes, I did that first thing when I got in today.
So melted butter at the bottom.
And then we're going to take our dry ingredients and mix them in a bowl, and then we're going to dump them in here.
So super, super easy.
One cup of sugar, one teaspoon of baking powder.
Make sure that's good.
That's a tablespoon.
Thanks, guys.
[00:10:53] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:10:54] Speaker C: 15 tablespoon.
[00:10:55] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:10:57] Speaker F: Thank you.
[00:10:58] Speaker B: I was wondering that.
[00:11:08] Speaker C: How many teaspoons are in a tablespoon? Three.
Thank you.
I don't have a tablespoon. So we're going to do this one, honey.
We're on the cobbler. The macaroni and cheese is done, ma'.
[00:11:23] Speaker F: Am.
[00:11:30] Speaker C: Okay.
And milk.
So one cup of milk? Yes.
All right, Then we're going to mix this all together. It's going to go in here. And then we're going to put our can and done.
Easy.
Does this say to drain it? Okay, I'm gonna go drain this.
Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna go put this in the oven. I want to remind you that this is a convection oven that we are using, so it will not take 25 to 30 minutes. So will someone set me a timer for 15 minutes?
That would be awesome. Or Peggy's usually keeps my time.
You got me. Perfect. I'm putting this in the oven.
Before you came, we did go, we were actually. I was able to bring a CSFP box in today because I was bringing it to somebody. She gave me permission to show what was in it. So everybody today got to see kind of what comes in the box.
You didn't, because you weren't here. Would you like to see what comes in our senior commodity box? You guys okay if I run through it again?
Okay, so this is.
So this is an example.
Everything will not be the same each month. Okay. But it'll be the same type of items.
So you are always going to get this cheese.
People say they love to make grilled cheese out of this. We just made Mac and cheese out of this. You could probably do a lot of stuff with this cheese. Each month.
It's always going to have a rice or a pasta.
So this month was rice. Sometimes it's spaghetti noodles, sometimes it's elbow macaroni like we used in this Mac and cheese. But you're always going to have some type of rice or pasta.
Two shelf stable milks.
So these are milkshake are shelf stable that aren't going to Go bad quickly. So you can put this on your shelf if you want and use for later.
So you're always going to get two shelf stable milks. You're always going to get two cereals.
The two boxes of cereal in this are like Rice Krispies and we made peanut butter Rice Krispie treats last week with these.
You're always going to get the two same. It's always going to be the two same, but it might be a Shredded Wheat or it might be Corn Flakes, but it's going to be two of the same. And it's going to be two boxes of cereal.
You're always going to get a juice in it.
This juice is a cranberry apple juice. I've seen cranberry, apple and apple juice used in this box. But you're always going to get a thing of juice in your box.
So let's talk about the proteins. So you're always going to have two proteins in your box.
This box just happens to have canned salmon and canned beef.
This canned beef, if you were to buy this at meijer, is about 10 bucks for this canned beef.
This is valuable because this all can go on your shelf and be used for later.
You're also going to get vegetables, canned vegetables.
This happens to have diced tomatoes, corn and carrots in it.
So you've got two cans of diced tomatoes, two cans of carrots, two cans of corn. And then you're also going to get black beans and pinto beans.
You're going to get some kind of bean in that box, whether it be a canned bean or a dry bean. Okay, so those are the things you're going to see in your box every month, but they do rotate. So your shelf stable milk and your juice and your cereals are always going to be kind of those couple different things. But your meats, your proteins, your veggies and your beans can vary each month. It just depends on what we have on hand.
Our volunteers pack these boxes and they are very particular how the boxes are packed so that we can make sure that each box has every single item it needs to have in it. It's very important that we make sure that the right product is in there and goes to our neighbors.
And when our volunteer groups come in to pack these boxes, they usually pack about 160 to 2, 140 boxes at a time.
So if we didn't have volunteers, we would not be able to get 850 of these boxes out each month.
We, so we, we rely solely on volunteers to pack these. We give out 850amonth. So we have groups that come in several times through the month to pack these boxes just to make sure we have inventory on our shelves.
Do you just pass them out one day or so? There are several different ways that we can get our boxes to our neighbors.
If you are living in Clark county, our preferred method would be for you to be able to come and pick up your box. But we know that with, with seniors, a lot of transportation issues come about.
So our first, first we're gonna. When we take an application, we're gonna ask them if they can get there. If they're there in a car, then most likely they can come pick it up.
If they need delivery, we look at it. That is a special case. We're always adding people and taking people off delivery depending on the need for delivery and how many people is on that wait list for delivery.
Some people we learn, can come pick up their box and are on delivery. So. So then that's when we take them off a delivery. If they can safely make it to the food bank to get their box, there's somebody that needs delivery that can't, can't get to the food bank or have anybody pick up on their behalf. If you cannot pick up your box on your application, you can fill out that proxy form that gives that other person permission to pick up your box for you. When we distribute them, we distribute all boxes on site the first Tuesday of the month.
If you don't come on the first Tuesday of the month, that's okay. We're still going to serve you. We just can't serve you at the end of the month because we do inventory. Then we do offer delivery in all three counties that's based off of a need. So we will ask questions to try to see how big that need is for them to get delivery. We do try to focus more on the rural communities because they are out there in the country. But we do offer delivery in Springfield as well for people that need it.
People that live in Champaign county that get a box, their pickup spot is the fairgrounds in Champaign County. So Champaign county picks up at the fairgrounds, Logan county picks up at the fairgrounds. And then if. Unless you're specified with delivery, if you ever have questions about when the pickup is, you can go to our website.
Under Find Food, there's a tab, it'll say csfp. Click on that and then you'll see the schedule down below. And that'll give you every date that will dispute distribute it through the year.
But it's always the first Tuesday.
Do you guys want to try some of this Mac and cheese?
We're very close.
We're very, very close, Peggy. Thank you.
The cobbler is not done yet, but we're getting there.
Very, very close, you guys. I spent a total of three bucks and some change on this meal.
But I am using stuff from my kitchen that I already had and purchased. So like my sugar and flour and baking powder I already had in my cabinets. All I had to buy for these two recipes is a block of mild cheddar cheese.
Everything, all my spices and everything were in my from my cabinet, but everything else was my CSFP box.
Cobbler's almost done, ma'. Am.
Did you bring a to go dish?
Would anybody else like some more Mac and cheese before I dump it all on Judy to take home to her grandson?
That's enough. Just trying it. Okay.
[00:20:00] Speaker E: I've been coming to the cooking class for last year and this year Peggy and I and somebody, some of the other people. And Natasha is wonderful. She does an excellent job. Excellent.
And all the recipes that we tried has been very good. Now I'm not doing the Mac and cheese because I'm allergic to the cheese.
It looks good. It looks very cheesy and the people in the class said it's very good.
[00:20:30] Speaker D: I've been coming to the class for two years and it really helps because it's just me and my husband and I hate to make stuff that you gotta eat forever and ever.
So it gives you ways of cooking things that you don't have to have leftovers.
Everything that she's used in the commodity box is really helpful.
Of course, I don't qualify for the commodity box because my husband works and I'm on retirement, so I make too much money. But anyway,
[00:21:10] Speaker C: it's really good.
[00:21:18] Speaker E: I'm just here for the cooking class because I'm trying to learn how to cook healthy on a budget. I've had cancer two times and I'm learning a lot from Natasha's class and I appreciate it.
[00:21:39] Speaker F: The class and I just love it. Everything, everything has been remarkable. I love the egg roll in a bowl and I have a 15 year old grandson that lives with me and I am able to take some food home for him and he lets me know that it's good. So then I start fixing it at my house also.
She is fantastic.
[00:22:11] Speaker B: Hello everyone and welcome to Just a Bite. Today we will be hearing some behind the scenes of a cooking demonstration class hosted by the one and only Natasha from Second Harvest Food bank of Champagne. Clark in Logan counties.
Natasha, welcome to Just a Bite. I'd love to have you introduce yourself to our listeners.
[00:22:28] Speaker C: Well, hello, everybody. My name is Natasha Ridenauer. I am an outreach specialist at Second Harvest Food bank, and we serve Clark, Champaign, and Logan counties. And my favorite thing about my job is this particular cooking class.
[00:22:42] Speaker B: Nice. How long have you been cooking this? Or, I'm sorry, teaching this cooking class.
[00:22:45] Speaker C: So I've been teaching it for a little over a year.
And before me, Maggie taught it when she was in that position for outreach specialist.
[00:22:54] Speaker B: Okay, very good. Yeah. So I know that outreach is a large part of your role at ccl, and I know that this cooking demonstration course seems to be really popular. You said that you've been teaching it for about a year now. It started originally with your colleague, Maggie.
Do you know how the class came about?
[00:23:14] Speaker C: Yeah, I do.
We were handing out these senior commodity boxes to our senior neighbors that qualified for it. And they were coming to us, asking us, what do I do with this food?
We have a great relationship with our local United Senior Services.
They had a place for us to come that gave us the access with the kitchen to create some of these meals out of the CSFP box. So that's how it came to fruition.
[00:23:43] Speaker B: Excellent.
Yeah. I just had the pleasure of listening to one of your classes, and in this particular class, you did a meal and then you did a dessert. Is that typical for you to do a dessert as well?
[00:23:55] Speaker C: We try to do two to three separate items.
It isn't always a dinner and a dessert. Sometimes it is a entree and a side.
But a lot of times I do try to give them a dessert, A little treat at the end.
[00:24:11] Speaker B: Yeah, I was excited to see that. I'm a. I'm the person who's thinking about the sweet treat before the meal even comes.
[00:24:17] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:24:17] Speaker B: So when you said there was a sweet treat, I was like, oh, thank goodness.
[00:24:20] Speaker C: And sometimes we eat the sweet treat before we have the entree.
[00:24:23] Speaker B: So you have to. Right.
[00:24:25] Speaker C: Like, we never play by the rules.
[00:24:27] Speaker B: I love it.
All right, well. Well, to help level set with our audience and we've just kind of, you know, talked about it, we mic Natasha up for her cooking demonstration. And we're going to share some of that audio with you today.
But I just wanted to get a little bit more background on CSFP in particular.
So this episode is going to be released in May, which is Older Americans month.
In the last year, it's also been recognized in the state of Ohio as Older Ohioan month. So we're super excited to release an episode in May with a focus on csfp.
So if any of our listeners don't know CSFP stands for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.
This is a 40 pound box that eligible senior citizens receive.
There is an application process and then upon completing their application, if there is spot on the caseload and if they meet the required eligibility, then they receive the CSFP box that that has some shelf stable nutritious foods for senior citizens. So we thought this was a perfect program to highlight for Older American Month and really glad to have Natasha and we're excited to share some of that audio from her cooking class.
So the items that you use in the cooking class, those come from the CSFP box?
[00:25:48] Speaker C: They do.
[00:25:49] Speaker B: All right, very good. And I know that you went over earlier and what are some of those standard items that come in the CSFP box?
[00:25:55] Speaker C: So in our CSFP box you will find things like shelf, shelf stable milk, you will find juice, canned vegetables, canned fruits, canned proteins, you're going to find pastas, shelf stable items.
[00:26:09] Speaker B: Very good. And I hear a lot about the popular cheese. Is there cheese that they get?
[00:26:15] Speaker C: There is a cheese that they get once a month with the box. And our neighbors love to cook with the cheese. Their favorite thing to make is grilled cheese. But we made a Mac and cheese today with that cheese and it turned out great.
[00:26:27] Speaker B: Yes, very good. I got to taste it. It was delic. Excited for our listeners to hear more about that in a second.
So just real quick as we wrap up just some questions about CSFP in particular to Second Harvest Food bank of Clark, Champaign and Logan counties.
Can you tell me a little bit about your caseload and if you have a wait list I just mentioned that you have to qualify and then there is limitations as far as each caseload that food banks are allotted. Can you explain that to our listeners?
[00:26:57] Speaker C: Yeah. So our caseload is 850 across our Tri county footprint. So that is 850 boxes that we can get out to our seniors a month. We currently do not have a waiting list that could possibly change in the future because we are seeing a lot more seniors becoming eligible for this box. But 850 is our caseload and that's how many boxes we can serve a month.
[00:27:18] Speaker B: Okay. And that 850 is split between the
[00:27:20] Speaker C: three county service area.
[00:27:22] Speaker B: Okay, very good. And I'm assuming, but please correct me if I'm wrong, is Champaign or I'm sorry Clark county the most the highly populated one because it's your urban area.
[00:27:31] Speaker C: Yes. And our population is higher here, right? Yeah. And our food insecurity tends to be higher here as well. So Clark county does have a pretty big workload as far as seniors that qualify for this.
[00:27:41] Speaker B: All right, excellent. Well, my last question for you is, you said this is your favorite part of your role as outreach specialist.
What do you love so much about the class?
[00:27:51] Speaker C: I love being able to create recipes.
I love to. I am not a good cook. Something you may not know about me is I am not a good cook. But teaching this class has really opened
[00:28:07] Speaker B: my eyes to things.
[00:28:08] Speaker C: So it's just the creativity to it.
We can do whatever we want. Right. We have to make the food taste good. So it's the creative. It's the start from the finish. It's the interaction with the people that I teach the class to as well. Yeah.
The neighbors that we teach this class to are so receptive and come with questions and sometimes we ask them questions and we learn from them. So that's probably the best part of it for me.
[00:28:33] Speaker B: That's great. I mean, I saw it firsthand today and it was really enjoyable.
You know, there's obviously a need in the community, so I think this partnership between CCL and the senior center is a perfect example to uplift during May, which has been deemed older Ohioan month. And I'm excited for our listeners to hear your tutorial on how to cook Mac and cheese using item from the CSFP box.
And thank you very much for your time. It was a pleasure.
[00:28:58] Speaker C: Thank you so much for having me.
That's it. Woohoo.
Appreciate it. Thank you, girl. Thank you. I was so excited when you told me.
[00:29:06] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm glad you were.
[00:29:08] Speaker C: I was at home when you were sending questions. I was like, oh man, I got this.
[00:29:21] Speaker A: That's all for today's episode of Just a Bite. A big thank you to Natasha from Second Harvest Food bank of Champaign, Clark and Logan counties for letting us see firsthand the impact of the CSFP program and to the seniors who share their time stories and recipe tips with us.
Programs like CSFP remind us that access to nutritious food is essential at every stage of life and that a simple box of ingredients can bring both nourishment and a sense of community.
If you'd like to learn more about CSFP or find ways to support efforts like this in your area, be sure to check out your local food bank by visiting the show Notes. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time for another bite.
[00:30:08] Speaker C: Sam.
