Sustainable Agriculture and Gardening Eurobodalla (SAGE) has been awarded a grant from Love Food Hate Waste through the NSW Environmental Trust to run community cooking workshops. The Cook to Grow workshops will provide local food cooking classes for 17-26-year-olds from Eurobodalla. Don't want to come alone.... then bring a friend ... it's fun and you can both share the experience and new skills you've learnt. Cook to Grow workshops will mainly take place in Moruya at Red Door Café, with visits to the SAGE Garden, farmers markets and local food suppliers. Each workshop will only take a maximum of eight participants to ensure everyone benefits from the hands on cooking and preparation experience - running for six sessions. We’d love to offer this to eight groups.The Cook to Grow program is scheduled to commence on Wednesday 10 May 2017. (Can't Make a Wednesday workshop? If you would like to join in a Saturday program can please ring Sandra on 0439032038 or email education@sageproject.org.au) Cook to Grow will teach young people practical, hands-on skills in healthy food planning, sourcing and storing, as well as preparing and cooking fresh locally grown produce. Participants will benefit from these easy adopted food waste avoidance skills to enjoy food and save time and money while reducing environmental impact. They will be encouraged to think about where their food comes from and the impacts of its consumption. The workshops will include trips to the SAGE Farmers Market and local whole foods store. “Young people have been identified as being vulnerable to unhealthy food choices due to limited cooking skills. As the result, they consume mostly ready made, processed and junk food, and generate a high level of food waste” said SAGE Cook to Grow Coordinator, Sandra Makdessi. "The project aims to lay good food foundations in food literacy, meal planning, selective purchasing, cooking real food, and generally better health and wellbeing. We want to inspire young people to prepare healthy meals at home, to connect with their local food communities and to make informed food choices” said Ms Makdessi. Love Food Hate Waste program aims to raise awareness of food waste in NSW and provide support to NSW households and businesses with easy adopt avoidance tips and skills to enjoy nutritious food and reduce the amount of good food being sent to landfill. The program is run by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and delivered in partnership with NSW businesses, not-for-profit organisations, local councils and community groups who share a commitment to reducing food waste. SAGE is a not for profit, community-based organisation whose mission is to support a NSW South Coast local food economy. SAGE has established an education and demonstration block of land in Moruya that includes a market garden where interns are trained to be commercial vegetable growers. It also runs community events and workshops on growing and using local food. For more details - contact Sandra on 0439032038 or email education@sageproject.org.au. This project was supported by the Environmental Trust as part of the NSW EPA’s Waste Less Recycle More initiative funded from the waste levy.
