Over the last few months, community cooks across Wales have been teaching people to cook healthy, balanced and affordable meals through virtual lessons, which have been shared online by the Lampeter Food Project.

The scheme was 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.

Rachelle Dearden, Project Manager at the Lampeter Food Project, said: “The cookery school has been an amazing experience so far, both to teach and also to share with local people.

"We’ve been sharing the videos on our social media channels, and the response has been really positive.

“We’d like to thank everyone who made this possible, and also everyone in Lampeter and the surrounding area who has taken part.

"We’re looking forward to learning more recipes together soon.”

Because of pandemic restrictions, the virtual lessons were streamed online from February to May, with the lessons developed and delivered by Jamie Oliver-trained community cooks and nutritionists.

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 like Lampeter Food Project.

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/