Cambridge nutritionist using kindness and compassion to guide clients: Jasmine Mangalaseril

Every day, Chaitali Maybhate lends a compassionate ear, a near-encyclopedic knowledge of food and nutrition, and an abundance of positivity to those navigating chronic health conditions, food insecurity, or who simply want to eat healthier.

As the Cambridge Food Bank's health promoter, she designs and delivers free wellness and nutrition programs to boost clients' confidence and culinary skills, while using foods available at the food bank.

"I love my job because I get to help other individuals. I get to learn from each of them. And every day, I am impacting at least one life. And this is amazing," said Maybhate.

Maybhate could take a cookie-cutter approach to her job. But she knows to make positive and long-lasting impacts on community members' lives, she needs to take a person-centred approach.

"I try to meet people where they are," she explained. "I think this is a powerful approach to health promotion because it emphasizes empathy, understanding and respect for each person's unique path and readiness to make changes."

Meeting people where they are means acknowledging their circumstances, including cooking skills, food knowledge, and which kitchen appliances they can access when crafting options and solutions.

Nutrition inclusion

Maybhate provides many options, empowering people to choose what works for them. For example, substituting chia seeds, flax seeds, or aquafaba (the thick liquid from canned chickpeas) can allow those with egg allergies to bake cookies or cakes.

For larger changes, she coaches a spoon-by-spoon approach. To get used to the taste and texture of plant milk, she suggests replacing one spoon of dairy milk in a recipe with plant-based milk, and slowly increasing it.

For Rick Thornhill, she offered a leaf-by-leaf approach.

Prior to meeting his partner, Susan Zimmerman, Thornhill's diet featured soups, crackers, and sandwiches. Today, he claims Maybhate has turned him "into a rabbit."

"He's eating salad, and he loves spinach on his sandwich," said Zimmerman. "He never ate that stuff before."

Sometimes, it's a matter of doing as much as possible with cost-effective ingredients.

Dried chickpeas are an inexpensive protein source that doesn't need refrigeration. Program participants have learned to make baked falafel and chickpea tofu. They also know to dehydrate the tofu's leftover liquid to make chickpea flour, which can be used in other recipes or to thicken soups.

Using the food bank's donated food in resource bags, Maybhate expands her community members' food horizons. Rather than the usual handful of recipes featuring soups or casseroles, she provides seven to 11 different recipes featuring that week's core ingredients.

The food bank says more people are choosing dried lentils and beans, over tinned, than before. This suggests people are practising skills learned during Healthy Eating on a Budget workshops.

She's also divided her recipes by cooking ability. No-cook recipes, like microwavable mug cakes, can be completed in a few minutes. Easy and healthy low-cook recipes include foods such as smoothies or tacos. Pro-cook recipes explore global flavours, including herbs and spices.

"Rick's learned a lot. He does muffins in the microwave, and he did some cookies in the microwave," said Zimmerman. "He made one muffin in a mug, and he took it down to someone who's bedridden here in the apartment building. And she loved it."

Creating community

The food bank's online group programming lets those who can't travel to the Ainslie Street location participate in group sessions. The sessions offer a new way of connecting with others to expand their social circles and interactions.

"We're not a group; we're a family. We act like a family," said Zimmerman. "We're all laughing and we're having fun. And that got us through COVID."

Thanks to word-of-mouth, people outside Cambridge are registering for these online sessions. Recently, participants have logged in from British Columbia, Texas, Jamaica, Nigeria, and South Korea. And, as they learn, they share how their area or culture uses that week's ingredients.

But whether online or in-person, Maybhate sees the ripple effect of her work.

"Instead of changing one life at a time, I consider each individual as a gatekeeper for their family. When somebody attends our program as a mom, as a grandma, they are including something healthy in her family's diet. And that would have impact on their family members, and on the next generation as well."