Freeman Steve Munkley (Cook’s Charity Trustee Advisory Panel member), was unable to attend an open day at the Hackney School of Food in September so Liveryman Mike Richardson volunteered to eat, drink and enjoy a lovely day out.
So, what does Hackney School of Food do?
It provides a unique setting to deliver cookery lessons for all. Located in the school grounds of Mandeville Primary School, Lower Clapton, it is a specially adapted cookery school of ten work stations in one building. Surrounded by beautiful extensive vegetable gardens, a greenhouse, a beehive and a wood-fired oven, the qualified chefs teach field to fork showing where food comes from, how to grow it and how to cook it.
Who can use it?
The main effort is for schools and children. They spread their catchment to the wider local community agencies and can also provide classes for private hire/corporate.
How do we help?
In partnership with the charity Chefs in Schools we contribute towards the salary of one of the training chefs. Chefs in Schools has amongst its patrons, Honorary Freeman Prue Leith and its Trustees include Henry Dimbleby, the lead person on the recently published National Food Strategy Report. This charity aims to fuel the future by transforming school food and food education, training kitchen teams to serve great lunches. They have a team of chef trainers who go from school to school showing kitchen teams how to cook and serve nutritious meals made from scratch. Packet mixes and processed ingredients are out, responsibly sourced fresh and seasonal produce is in; this is music to my ears (for those who know about my own business). They are focusing on creating a nationwide school chef qualification in those geographical areas that are disproportionately affected by child obesity.
At the Open Day, I viewed the facilities, toured the gardens with the Head Gardener and met many of team, including Chief Executive Naomi Duncan. It was an exhilarating experience to witness children truly learning about growing food, picking it, preparing it and eating it. A fantastic organisation that we should be proud of supporting.
