Food and Cooking

Introduction:

One project focused particularly on cookery, the Bhalo Ranna (Healthy Cooking). Other projects included elements of food and cooking within a range of different themes, such as healthy eating or life skills and employability. Some projects working with black and minority ethnic groups explored cooking within different cultural traditions. Others working with people who have learning difficulties or disabilities included some cooking skills to promote independent living.

Projects focusing on education for sustainable development offered opportunities to grow fruit and vegetables on allotments, and some projects set up food co-operatives or community shops.

Food and Cooking Projects

Celebration of Learning Through Diversity

Co-operative Community Action

This project brought together learners from different black and minority ethnic and faith communities, including African, Indian, Pakistani, Caribbean and Muslim communities, to encourage and enable people from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds to learn about each other's cultures. Many learners were refugees or asylum seekers. Individuals took part in both learning and teaching others new skills. Learning activities included arts and crafts based activities, health and wellbeing, food and cooking and music. Overall the project aimed to enhance community cohesion and integration, and to promote equality and diversity awareness.

Featured

Your Choice project View more...

Greenbank College

The Your Choice project, led by Greenbank College, offered learning opportunities for 60 disabled adults; approximately 90% were people with learning difficulties and disabilities. Learners were encouraged to take control of their own learning by helping to organise activities via the steering group; thus learners themselves decided the activities and were involved with the organisation of them. The college worked with many care agencies and day centres to reach new learners. Learning activities included photography, arts and crafts, food and cooking, and sports sessions promoting health and wellbeing. The college offered extensive learner support and provided help towards the cost of travel.

GROW Yourself A Better Future

Foleshill Women's Training Ltd

Foleshill Women’s Training led a consortium to deliver this project, which gave people across Coventry the opportunity to engage in informal learning activities based around health, wellbeing and confidence building. Each partner organisation brought experience of working with a particular group, e.g. black and minority ethnic groups, migrant and refugee communities, young adults etc., which meant that approximately 1000 adults from hard to reach groups were engaged in learning activities and able to access further information about progression routes.

In the (Sister)Hood – Women Learning Together through Art & Culture

Ocean Somali Community Assocation

This project, led by Ocean Somali Community Association, sought to engage 150 women from black and minority ethnic communities, including those without English as a first language and refugees, in a variety of informal adult learning activities. Sessions included cookery, dance and singing, language and literacy, and crafts. Learners were also able to access further progression routes, with over 40 participants being referred on to other informal and accredited learning and 4 participants taking up volunteer placements.