Bradford College

'Can’t Cook – Won’t Cook'

The ‘Focus on Food’ bus arrived at Bradford College for a week long visit to revolutionize the way we think about food.  The Focus on Food Campaign was set up following a national decline in cooking ability and teaching, coupled with rising health problems caused by poor diet and lack of food knowledge and skills.

Bradford was named the ‘Fattest City in England’ in 2005 with two areas in Bradford being identified as the second and fifth most deprived in England. There were also high rates of coronary heart disease, strokes, diabetes, cataracts, asthma and thalassaemia.  Now with increasing obesity among young people, there has never been a better time to raise awareness on healthy eating. 

Jane Marshall, the Healthy College Manager at Bradford College, is keen to drive down health problems in Bradford and invited the Focus on Food’ bus to the College.   Explaining how the visit from the ‘Focus on Food’ bus came to fruition, Jane said: “When I speak to students in classes and give them advice on healthy eating, they often come back to me and say they’d love to eat healthily, but don’t know how to and can’t cook because they haven’t been taught the skills.” 

The innovative Focus on Food campaign raises the profile and importance of food education and helps people learn to cook, so they can successfully make healthy eating choices and take full control of their food lives.

Jane Marshall reflected: “The diet and health of the nation will not change significantly unless people are taught the basic skills to cook meals from fresh ingredients.”

The cooking bus is a huge specialist built articulated lorry, which opens out into a spectacular purpose built kitchen/classroom and is staffed by a qualified food teacher.

Onboard the Food Bus, Focus on Food Chef, Sarah Helliwell has been instrumental in teaching Bradford College students how to cook nutritious and healthy recipes.  Commenting on the success of the visit, Sarah said: “The student’s feedback has been really positive! The students have grown in confidence and have become aware of new recipes and ingredients that they haven’t used before.  Some of them were a bit wary about using some of the ingredients we put in front of them, but they soon got into the spirit of things and enjoyed the experience.  We also taught them safe knife skills, food safety and hygiene - all knowledge they can take away with them and use in the future, so they’re all transferable skills.”

Sarah concluded: “A lot of the students came and didn’t have basic cooking knowledge… they’ve learnt so much about the different aspects of food, diet, nutrition and health – and really enjoy it!"

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