From our ongoing work with a wide range of community groups and from the evaluation we have conducted after the sessions, we have learnt that one great hands-on cooking session can certainly leave a strong positive impression, and those who already cook from scratch can take away some new skills and ideas which they can incorporate into their everyday cooking habits.
However, we have also learnt that in order for people who do very little or no cooking from scratch to acquire genuine skills and develop knowledge and confidence in cooking great tasting, healthy, seasonal food on a budget, one session can barely scratch the surface. For people to derive real long terms benefits from the work that we do with them, we needed to develop a longer programme of cooking sessions.
So far, we have devised 4 and 6 week programmes, one session a week.
These programmes are completely adaptable in terms of seasonality, dietary requirements and the individual needs of the group.
They also involve direct comparisons with processed and pre-packaged foods, in terms of taste, cost and nutritional value (we also guide them thoroughly through understanding food labels), so that the sessions are not taught in a vacuum but instead what participants are learning is related directly to their current eating habits and they can make the direct comparisons for themselves.
If you are involved with a community group and would like more information on 4 or 6 week cooking programmes,
please contact juliet@crackinggoodfood.org or adele@crackinggoodfood.org
Please take a look at the programmes we have done so far (click on the relevant picture)
4 week programme 6 week programme 4 week programme
