Recently I had the opportunity to attend May Project Gardens' Come We Grow education event held at Mitcham Library.
It was well attended and it was great to watch several children happily prepping vegetables for the cooking in progress under the supervision of two friendly and enthusiastic leaders. In this project parents and children learn about cooking food, especially that which they might grow and harvest themselves – and the cooking in process both looked and smelled amazing!
This project is part of May Project’s larger Grow, Cook, Eat programme which works with communities experiencing poor diets and food poverty to make healthy living affordable and accessible through food growing and cooking sessions.
The sessions use food surplus collected from local businesses to reduce food waste and encourage community solutions to economic hardship. The cooking activity leaders have come through this May Project programme and after demonstrating a passion and skill for cooking received training to deliver sessions, such as these during the education event, as part of their team.
The two days of Come We Grow education sessions were free to attend and included food, music, dance, radio, and film activities. The sessions were supported by Merton Council, Mitcham Library and with food donations from Abel and Cole. The library also has an extensive selection of cookery books to take advantage of – well worth a look if you’d like to source a wide variety of recipes for you and your family.
More about the May Project’s work can be found on their web site and other social media:
www.mayproject.org/grow-cook-eat
Sue McGhie
Food Poverty Action Plan Coordinator