About PCC Cooks

Our mission is to inspire fresh ideas for delicious natural cooking and healthy living with fun, informative classes.

L-R: Amelia Worth, PCC Cooks Program Assistant; Rachel Welker, PCC Cooks Program Specialist; Jackie DeCicco, PCC Cooks Writer; Marilyn McCormick, PCC Cooks Manager

PCC Cooks began in 1983 as an educational and nutritional program called FoodWorks, which was designed to introduce our members and shoppers to the delicious world of natural cooking. Over the past two decades, PCC Cooks has grown to include five fully equipped teaching kitchens offering more than 800 classes a year.

The program originated in the 1970s with cooking demonstrations at card tables in stores, hosted by PCC's nutrition education manager, Goldie Caughlan. Goldie's demos for simple recipes using bulk foods were a hit and the demand for expanded cooking classes eventually led to the creation of a full-time cooking program, which — at the time — featured eight classes.

PCC Cooks is currently managed by Marilyn McCormick, who joined the program in 1994 to help keep pace with the program's growth. Originally hired as a part-time instructor, Marilyn taught our popular whole-grain bread making class. Her enthusiasm and talent for natural cooking led her to join the administrative side of the program, first as an assistant, later becoming the program's manager in 2001.

PCC Cooks program specialist Rachel Welker, PCC Cooks writer Jackie DeCicco and PCC Cooks program assistant Amelia Worth — along with our roster of professional chefs and instructors and helpful volunteers — round out our talented team.