Broadmeadows
Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food mobile kitchen was beginning to feel like a permanent fixture outside Hume council offices in Broadmeadows.
But after almost three months, 1288 salmon fillets and 74.5 kilograms of mince meat, the time has come for it to move on to Wyndham – the ninth of 14 destinations on its two-and-a-half- year road trip across Victoria.
Since November 27, almost 500 Hume residents have completed Jamie’s Ministry of Food five-week course of weekly 90-minute cooking demonstrations. The oldest participant was 76, the youngest just 12.
The purpose-built mobile kitchen has brought practical cooking skills to the community, with participants being taught how to cook simple, nutritious and tasty meals without spending a fortune at the supermarket.
Each class focused on a different dish, all the while discussing themes such as portion sizes, what constitutes a balanced meal and nutritional information.
The mobile kitchen is a jointly funded state and federal government initiative via the Healthy Together Victoria scheme. The void the mobile kitchen will leave in Hume will in part be filled by council initiatives such
as Live Green Hume, a series of workshops and events covering topics such as composting and promoting the growing of food in the city.
Hume council’s manager for aged and public health services, Hector Gaston, said the overwhelming response to Jamie’s Ministry of Food provided a catalyst to ignite a conversation about food in Hume.
“We know this is something that’s important to our community and is reflected in the community-driven Hume City Council Health and Wellbeing Plan 2013-17 as well as the work of Healthy Together Hume,” Mr Gaston said.
He said the council had listened to the community and would be providing a platform to discuss local food issues and opportunities.
Healthy Together Hume, a partnership of Hume City Council, Dianella Community Health and Sunbury Community Health Centre, will announce the date of the food forum in the near future.
LEXI COTTEE
