This past school year, Layne Langley, Area Nutrition & Community Health Agent with the LSU AgCenter served as project leader for the 4-H Mission Nutrition Cooking Club. The 4-H’ers met monthly and learned about the Louisiana Harvest of the Month. This program showcases locally grown foods in Louisiana. Each month the club focused on one locally grown item. The 4-H’ers learned about the food and then prepared a recipe using that food item.

In September, the 4-H’ers learned about cucumbers and prepared and sampled Cucumber Sandwiches and Tzatziki. During the November project club meeting, the 4-H’ers learned about cooking skills and knife skills. They practiced their new skills chopping carrots, onions, etc. In January, the 4-H’ers learned about Louisiana citrus and prepared and tasted Orange Cranberry Oatmeal. Since the January club meeting took a little longer than expected, the second citrus recipe was carried over to February. The 4-H’ers made a Raspberry Lime Fizz. The harvest of the month for February was strawberries. The group enjoyed making and tasting Strawberry Salsa. Broccoli was the Louisiana Harvest of the Month for March. The 4-H’ers prepared two recipes: Broccoli and Cauliflower Bites and Air Fried Broccoli. To wrap up the project club for the school year, Langley arranged for the 4-H Mission Nutrition Club to use the West Feliciana High School (WFHS) Pro Start Lab for their April meeting and recipe prep. The 4-H’ers were able to watch a video on Louisiana catfish in the Café’ and then divided into teams to prepare Baja Cream Sauce and Catfish Tacos. Special thanks to Delanea Buffalo, WFHS Pro Start Teacher and the school for allowing the group to use the lab.

At the beginning of the school year, 4-H’ers completed a pre-program survey and after the last club meeting, they completed a post-program survey with some open-ended questions. Some of the comments submitted by the 4-H’ers included: “I liked that you get to learn a lot about the fruits and vegetables, and you get to know how other people grow them and when they are ripe for picking.” “I learned about how different farms grow different things.” “I liked the information and preparation of the food.” “I learned it is good to try new veggies and fruits every day.” “Healthy cooking doesn’t have to be hard.” "I really think y’all did a good job with Mission Nutrition Cooking Club. I had a wonderful time cooking and learning about each fruit and vegetables.”

For more information on the 2024-25 4-H Mission Nutrition Cooking Club, contact Layne Langley at 635-3614 or at lalangley@agcenter.lsu.edu