Tesco and celebrity kitchen boss Jamie Oliver have teamed up to set up the Tesco Community Cookery School – a programme aimed at helping 1,000 people across the UK get creative with cooking to curb food waste.
The school launched at London’s Goodinge Community Centre, in partnership with food distribution charity Fareshare.
Community chefs will be offered free training and advice on how to prepare healthy meals out of surplus food donations. People tasked with cooking for large groups are often faced with an unusual or unexpected mix of ingredients, plus large quantities of seasonal produce.
They will be trained with recipes designed by Jamie Oliver and will work directly with Tesco’s development chefs.
Knife skills, nutrition and recipes for versatile base sauces are among the skills taught to the community chefs, who will receive free cooking equipment and a collection of the food surplus recipes.
Jamie Oliver said: “It’s fantastic to join the work that Tesco and FareShare are doing to reduce food waste. The food industry throws away a shocking amount of fresh edible food, so Tesco’s efforts to find a good home for its surplus is a big step in the right direction.