Cook for Good if you want to save money by cooking and eating delicious, seasonal food from scratch. You'll make a positive difference, too: for yourself, your family, and for your community and planet.

Focus on thrift or go green with mostly organic or sustainably raised ingredients. Either way, you'll probably be spending less than the food-stamp allowance for someone with no other means. In North Carolina, the average Cook for Good meal costs:

• 91 cents using thrifty ingredients
• $1.57 using green ingredients
• $1.76 with a local, green focus

The food-stamp allowance for a family of four with no other means is $1.99 per meal per person — 42 cents more than my green plan. You can afford to eat wonderful food that is good for you and for your planet.

Every lunch includes a snack to be eaten when you like. Every day includes at least one dessert, two servings of fruit, and plenty of fresh vegetables. Celebrate the abundance of the seasons by enjoying pizza, chili, homemade bread, pies, and ice cream. Learn more ...

Featured Video: Portion Control and Healthy Eating Tips from Dietitian Betty Amer

How big is your stomach? Just visualizing it will help you control portion size, says volunteer Betty Amer, a volunteer at the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic on Hilton Head Island. Get healthy-eating tips from dietitian Betty Amer, a volunteer at the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic on Hilton Head Island. Betty urges people to cook at home from scratch and to adopt a more plant-based diet, with lots of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. She also tells Linda how warm and welcoming this free clinic is. You might get more time with a doctor here than in a regular practice, along with help for diabetes, hypertension, and weight loss.

The Cook for Good Mountains-to-Power Tour coming in October

OK, it's not much of a tour yet. But I've got two endpoints and I'm sure some of you will help me fill in the spots in between. I'll be going from Abingdon Virginia to Washington DC in mid-October and am looking for events in between. Think Winston-Salem, Blacksburg, Roanoke, Charlottesville, Richmond, and the DC-Baltimore area.

Check out the events pages for details and for descriptions of classes that your organization might want to host.