British supermarket chain Tesco has partnered with The Children’s Food Trust to expand ‘Let’s Get Cooking’ - the UK’s biggest network of school cooking clubs.
Originally established seven years ago with £20 million of investment from the Big Lottery Fund, The Children’s Food Trust’s Let’s Get Cooking programme has established a network of 3,000 successful primary and special school clubs.
The Tesco Eat Happy Project clubs will be concentrated in disadvantaged areas, where improving cooking skills can have the greatest impact for children.
Children learn how to cook a huge variety of useful meals at Let’s Get Cooking clubs, such as salads, omelettes, soups and stir fries.
Research has shown that almost all children who take part cook again at home, and more than half say they eat more healthily since learning to cook at a club.
As well as keeping around 3,000 existing clubs going, the new partnership will mean the establishment of an additional 1,000 clubs around the UK during 2016 with up to 72,000 more children benefiting from learning how to cook at the clubs.
Speaking on the announcement, Josh Hardie, corporate responsibility director for Tesco, said: “The Tesco Eat Happy Project is our long-term commitment to help the next generation have a happier and healthier relationship with their food. A crucial part of this means giving children the tools they need to make better decisions about what they put on their plates when they grow up."
Linda Cregan, chief executive officer of the Children’s Food Trust, said that companies like Tesco can have enormous influence in getting children to eat better.
“This funding is an incredible opportunity to give many more children the chance to make that connection between where food comes from and the meal on a plate."
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