Warwickshire residents who would like to find out how to eat more healthily are invited to learn more about Warwickshire County Council’s Kind Communities Kind Food events.
Warwickshire residents who would like to find out how to eat more healthily, in ways that are affordable, and contribute to the environment in more sustainable ways, are invited to learn more about Warwickshire County Council’s (WCC) Kind Communities Kind Food events.
Kind Communities Kind Food is a County Council-led community engagement programme that provides live cooking demonstrations and free information about how to adopt healthier lifestyles as well as other food-related community support. At least six of these types of events have already been delivered within the past year.
The most recent Kind Communities Kind Food event took place on Saturday 13 July at King Edward VI School in Stratford-upon-Avon, organised by WCC’s Community Partnerships Service and the Equality & Inclusion Partnership (EQuIP), in collaboration with Stratford District Council.
At the event, visitors enjoyed four different cooking demonstrations by members of the local community which showed how to prepare easy-to-make and affordable dishes. The demonstrations included the opportunity for attendees to pick-up free recipe cards and sample some of the meals created.
Dawer Tawfik, one of WCC’s Warwickshire Food Champions, gave an introduction about what it’s like to be a volunteer in a Food Champion role and how others can get involved, and Junaid Hussain from EQuIP also delivered a talk to explain the benefits of using slow cookers. At the end of the day a total of sixteen slow cookers were given out for free to attendees who wished to start slow-cooking meals themselves.
Notable visitors at the event included the Mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon, Councillor Jason Fojtik, Councillor Leticia Petrovic, and MP for Stratford-upon-Avon, Dr Manuela Perteghella.
The Kind Communities Kind Food events are also a great opportunity for organisations working across the county to share useful information with residents such as energy-saving advice and health and wellbeing support. Organisations in attendance at the latest Kind Communities Kind Food event included Act on Energy, Barnardo's, Warwickshire Mind, Stratford Foodbank, EQuIP, Stratford District Council, South Warwickshire Foundation Trust, and WCC’s Family Information Service, Community Partnerships Service, and Warwickshire Country Parks.
The next ‘Kind Communities Kind Food’ event is taking place at The Harbour Centre in Bedworth (CV12 8LY) on Saturday 21 September, 11am-3pm, and free places are available to book on the Eventbrite page.
Cllr Heather Timms, Warwickshire County Council Portfolio Holder for Environment, Climate and Culture, said:
“The Kind Communities Kind Food events are a fantastic initiative delivered in support of the Warwickshire Food Strategy, not only providing practical cooking demonstrations but also valuable resources and support to empower people to live happier, healthier, and more independent lives.
“It's great to see so many local organisations come together to promote healthy food and well-being changes, and I encourage residents to attend these free events so that we can help reduce food insecurity and promote ways to enjoy healthier diets across the county which are affordable and sustainable”.
The Kind Communities Kind Food events contribute towards the wider work of the Warwickshire Food Strategy 2023-26, which has been developed by the Warwickshire Food Forum partnership.
The Strategy focuses on providing better access to affordable and healthy food, raising awareness and education about healthy food choices, and promoting sustainable food to help reduce carbon emissions and support biodiversity.
To learn more, visit the Warwickshire Food Strategy webpages on SearchOut Warwickshire.
For residents in need of food or other cost-of-living support, visit www.costoflivingwarwickshire.co.uk.