NORWICH – The Cornell Cooperative Extension Grow Cook Eat program is now recruiting interested participants for the 2015 program.

During the year-long program, participants in Grow Cook Eat (GCE) take a series of classes that focus on gardening, food preservation and preparation, fitness, and healthy eating. The classes include five gardening classes, six Eat Smart New York (ESNY) cooking and nutrition classes, three food preservation classes, and three physical fitness classes. Participants will also have access to Master Gardener Volunteers for gardening counsel and guidance.

Furthermore, for those GCE participants that do not have a home garden, they can do their gardening in community garden plots in Afton, Bainbridge, Norwich, or in Sherburne at Rogers Center. There will also be limited amount of container gardens available for those who prefer that method.

This Chenango United Way funded curriculum was created to give participants a unified and holistic program so that the entire experience would be “greater than the sum of its parts.”

The GCE program begins with an Orientation Class that will include a goal-setting discussion and activity. Participants will receive a GCE Calendar/Planner to assist them in tracking their progress, and attaining their goals, throughout the year. In addition, each participant is required to do ten hours of volunteering which can be achieved by attending three group volunteer activities throughout the year.