Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia has joined forces with the University of Sydney to serve up a feast of healthy cooking classes on Friday, October 21, as part of Sydney’s famed international food festival, Crave.
The lawns in front of the historic Quadrangle building will be transformed into a giant hands-on cooking class for a day when Jamie’s Ministry of Food will show participants how easy it can be to prepare a simple, tasty and healthy meal. On the menu, is Jamie Oliver’s Cracking Burger and his tasty Chargrilled Chicken Kebab.

The collaboration is between Jamie’s Ministry of Food and the University of Sydney’s new research center which aims to significantly reduce the personal and social burden of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease by transforming the way we eat, work and live. The event is aimed at inspiring people back into the kitchen, cooking meals from scratch, instead of opting for easier food options, such as take away.
“Lack of knowledge, confidence and skills are the main barriers which stops people from cooking. When you know how to cook, you’ve got control over your life and your health. Cooking is one of the most important things we can ever learn in life,” says Alicia Peardon, General Manager Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia.

Figures from the National Preventative Health Taskforce show that being overweight or obese affects more than 60 percent of Australian adults and 25 percent of Australian children. The most recent projections indicate that there will be an extra 6.7 million obese Australians by 2025. This frightening statistic demonstrates an urgent need for action. Joel Smith, spokesman for the University’s research center said the event would bring together University of Sydney students, staff and the public to learn about healthy cooking and how easy it is to incorporate it into daily life. “We were inspired to put together this event with Jamie’s Ministry of Food because both organizations are working, in rather different ways, to provide people with the experience and skills to make better food choices. Both organizations want to educate and help more people be able to cook low cost, time efficient and delicious healthy meals.” Jamie’s Ministry of Food is a practical solution to the problems of obesity and diet-related disease and a successful response to the lack of basic food skills in the population. The program inspires and empowers change in the way individuals and their families eat, and how they think about food.

Event details:

• There will be three cooking classes available on Friday 21st October:
o 11am - Jamie’s Cracking Burgers
o 1pm - Jamie’s Chargrilled Chicken Kebabs
o 3pm - Jamie’s Cracking Burgers
• Tickets cost $10 and are limited to10 people per booking
• The event is open to both students and the general public (aged 16 or above)
• For bookings or enquiries please email info@thegoodfoundation.com.au
• Tickets go on sale at 9.30am on Monday 29th August 2011

About the author: Alicia Peardon, Program Director, Ministry of Food Australia

For more information on Jamie's Ministry of Food - Australia