Community cooks across Wiltshire have been teaching people to cook healthy, balanced and affordable meals as part of Tesco’s Community Cookery School, in partnership with Jamie Oliver and food redistribution charity FareShare.

The second phase of the Community Cookery School was launched earlier this year to help train community cooks in delivering helpful and practical cooking skills to families in their communities. Easy recipes such as veggie chilli, tinned salmon fishcakes with veggie slaw, and veggie soup with eggy muffins encouraged people to add more vegetables to their everyday meals.

The lessons developed and delivered by Jamie Oliver-trained community cooks and nutritionists.

Among the Wiltshire community cooks taking part was Mika Botezatu from Trowbridge’s Storehouse Foodbank.

She taught young people aged 17-24, who could then share their new-found knowledge with others so that as many Trowbridge people as possible benefit.

She said: “I've really enjoyed being part of this initiative. I think it's a great programme for the community I live in. I love cooking at home, but to be able to try to pass this onto others is really fantastic.

“The 10 young adults I've been working with all come from disadvantaged backgrounds but have all shown amazing interest and aptitude for the lessons.

"Even when some have shown reluctance to take part initially, by the end of the first lesson they have been very enthusiastic to come back for more.

“One of the students said they'd never cooked a thing before but he really enjoyed the class and said he now had confidence to cook in future. One other of the participants seemed to like it so much that she wanted to come for the rest of the year.

“It’s such a pleasure to see the students enjoy the taste of the food they cook and the pride in the fact that they have been able to do it at all.”

The courses covered knife skills and basic nutrition, as well as offering recipes that can be adapted to complement a wide variety of foods typically donated to food banks.

Oonagh Turnbull, Tesco Head of Health Campaigns, said: “We're so proud to have provided food education, inspiration and support to vulnerable families across the UK over the last few months. The past year has highlighted the need to focus on nutrition and it’s great to have played a part in supporting healthier communities.”

The cookery school initiative launched in 2019 with the aim of training 1,000 community cooks how to make meals with food typically donated by Tesco, while avoiding food waste – a target which was achieved by January 2020.

Katherine Hale, Food Education Manager at Jamie Oliver Group, said: “This year’s programme is focused on the importance of cooking balanced meals from scratch by offering ideas and recipes to increase the use of fruit and veg in everyday meals. We’re thrilled to have been able to reach so many community cooks digitally this year, despite the challenges we’ve all faced this year.”

Lindsay Boswell, Chief Executive at FareShare, said: “The Tesco Community Cookery School has offered cooks an excellent opportunity to further their knowledge and provided inspiration for new meals they can make using food they receive through FareShare. This fantastic partnership between Tesco, Jamie Oliver and FareShare has resulted in thousands of families across the UK learning about the importance of nutrition.”

Tesco’s Community Cookery School is part of the retailer’s ongoing commitment to health. To find out more: https://www.tescoplc.com/news/2021/tesco-makes-ambitious-new-commitments-to-support-healthy-sustainable-diets/