‘Cooking Matters’ and a Show Discount

Experts agree that maintaining a healthy diet is critical to people’s overall health, especially as they age. And where does this healthy-eating habit start? At the store—where pivotal choices are made about which foods to buy.

So to help low- and moderate-income seniors and their families sustain a healthier diet, AARP Foundation has created “Cooking Matters at the Store,” a program currently being hosted at select Long Island grocery stores through Dec. 31. At each store, AARP volunteers conduct tours in which participants learn how to read food labels, compare unit prices, find whole-grain foods and identify affordable ways to buy more produce.

For their service, volunteers will receive free tickets to the Dec. 28 performance of the Gateway Playhouse’s holiday presentation of Cirque Le Masque: Noel at the Patchogue Theatre in Patchogue.

AARP Long Island members can contribute to “Cooking Matters” by purchasing tickets for the Dec. 28 performance—discounted half-off normal ticket prices—and $10 of every ticket sold will benefit the program, with a $10 grocery gift card going to participants at the conclusion of their store tour.

For more information about “Cooking Matters” or to purchase tickets to the Dec. 28 Cirque Le Masqueshow, go to aarp.org/longisland. —Ronald E. Roel