As part of Tesco’s Community Cookery School, in partnership with Jamie Oliver and food redistribution charity FareShare, community chefs across the UK have taught people how to cook healthy, balanced and affordable meals.
Earlier this year, the second phase of the Community Cookery School was launched to help train community cooks to deliver relevant and practical cooking skills to local families. Easy recipes like veggie chilli, tinned salmon fishcakes with veggie slaw, and veggie soup with eggy muffins prompted more vegetables into everyday scratch meals.
Because of pandemic restrictions, the virtual lessons were streamed online from February to May, with the lectures developed and delivered by Jamie Oliver-trained community cooks and nutritionists.
The courses included knife skills and fundamental nutrition and offered recipes 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 began in 2019 to equip 1,000 community cooks to make meals with food typically donated by Tesco while avoiding food waste – an objective completed by January 2020.