Introducing 'Simple Cooking With Heart'

The AHA is proud to partner once again with the world’s largest retailer, headquartered right here within the SouthWest Affiliate in Bentonville, Arkansas.  Our friends at Walmart are funding a new national program called Simple Cooking with Heart, which encourages people to cook meals at home – for the sake of their hearts and their wallets.  The program includes recipes, instructional videos, nutritional information, kitchen pointers, and kits for in-home cooking parties. 

The initiative also features over 70 live cooking demonstrations from coast to coast.  Our affiliate’s first such demonstration was held in North Tulsa, and by all accounts it was a big success! 

In October, the AHA joined forces with the Taste of North Tulsa program, which every year draws more than 1,000 attendees to sample foods cooked from our Soul Food Cookbook.  The event was held at a predominantly African-American high school in an underserved part of town, which is also a priority community for our educational programs.

Ten AHA volunteers attended the cooking demonstration to serve heart-healthy Tailgate Chili and explain how to prepare meals that are low in fat, sugar and sodium.  Roughly 400 people sampled the chili and many were delighted to learn that something so healthy could taste so good!  Even more attendees picked up heart disease and stroke brochures, recipe cards, and information about the upcoming Power To End Stroke gospel concert with Kirk Franklin (held November 3).

Additional cooking demonstrations are completed or on the books throughout the SouthWest Affiliate in Austin, Dallas, Fayetteville, Fort Worth, Houston, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa.  You can contact your local AHA office for more information.

The Simple Cooking with Heart program is already making great strides by empowering consumers with the information and resources to make healthy choices.  Thank you to the Walmart Foundation and to the many volunteers who have made these cooking demonstrations possible throughout the SouthWest Affiliate.

Visit www.heart.org/simplecooking to learn more.