01/21/2026
On December 17, members of the Garden Club at Winfield Correctional Facility came together for a sweet potato cooking class using produce they helped grow this season. 🍠🌱 Becky Reid with K-State Research and Extension started the class by talking about how recipes can be adapted to real life. If a recipe calls for something fancy you do not have, like sea salt, you can use table salt instead. If you have a microwave instead of a stove, that still counts and works just as good. We want to teach that good food should be practical, flexible, and accessible.
Dora Trammell, Activities Specialist at Winfield Correctional Facility, helped us coordinate the class, including demonstrating simple preparation methods using basic kitchen equipment, like using a crockpot and microwave. 👩🍳
From there, the visitor center room came alive! Using air fryers, electric skillets, and a microwave, participants prepared and shared several dishes including sweet potato breakfast hash with bacon and syrup, air fryer sweet potato fries with two different dipping sauces, microwaved sweet potatoes with butter, cinnamon and marshmallows, fruit chaat (a fresh fruit mix with sweet potatoes and chili powder), and crockpot kohlrabi with broccoli and cheese. 🥔🍽️ They worked in small groups, learned new techniques, and tried many different varieties of sweet potatoes.
About 25 men took part in the class. Some were able to cook hands-on, while others observed, asked questions, and helped problem-solve along the way. 🤝 As often happens when you are learning by doing, we ran into a few challenges. With several appliances running at once, we ended up tripping a few breakers. ⚡ Instead of stopping the class, it became part of the learning.
We talked through what happened, why it happened, and how to adjust. Managing power, pacing equipment use, and planning ahead are real-life skills, whether you are cooking at home, working a job, or collaborating in a shared space. 🛠️ For future classes, we learned that fewer appliances and more demonstration-style cooking will allow everyone to participate, taste the food, and stay within the limits of the space and time we are allowed.
These moments are important. Gardening and cooking programs are not just about recipes. They build practical skills, confidence, and the ability to adapt when something does not go as planned. 🌱💪 Research shows that hands-on horticulture and cooking education in correctional settings supports emotional well-being and personal growth, especially when learning happens through teamwork and problem solving (Jiler, 2006; Rice & Remy, 2020).
This class also reflected a Food is Medicine approach. 🥗 Sweet potatoes are nutrient-dense, affordable, store well, and can be prepared in many ways with basic equipment. Learning flexible ways to prepare healthy food you grew yourself is a skill that carries beyond the garden and, hopefully, beyond this class.
We are grateful for the partnership, the patience in the room, and the shared understanding that learning does not require perfection. 💛 By the end of the class, stomachs were full, spirits were lifted, and people left having shared good food, teamwork, and a sense of accomplishment. 🍽️
A sincere thank you to all the volunteers!
