Good Food Training for London
Good Food Training for London
This project was developed to implement the London Food Strategy priority of delivering healthy school food, and soon broadened its scope to other public sector settings.
From 2007 to 2010 Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency (GCDA), in partnership with Sustain and NHS Greenwich, developed and delivered Good Food Training for London (GFTL) – a programme of bespoke training courses and specialist training for the catering industry to help them reduce waste, reduce carbon emissions and increase the health and sustainability of their food and, as a result, increase profits. The project trained over 1,700 people and provided a detailed understanding of the barriers faced by caterers, as well as a proven track record of providing practical solutions, delivering health, environmental sustainability and economic benefits.
The project’s research team, City University, conducted evaluation which showed the project achieved real behaviour change with many of the trainees, and the specialist training days were particularly effective in encouraging catering managers to make useful changes to promote skills, sustainability, and health.
To respond to demand GCDA became a registered Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and Open College Network Centre offering accredited courses with both these bodies and developed a range of innovative resources for use with the training that can be purchased along with comprehensive training notes. In 2009 funding was received to design and build a training kitchen in Greenwich, which opened in 2010 and has allowed practical courses such as specialist chef training days to be delivered.
The project has continued to deliver training in the London Boroughs of Camden, Lewisham, Barking and Dagenham, Bromley, Merton, Greenwich and Walthamstow, and also responds to requests for practical skills training for public sector staff.
CASE STUDY: London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
In February 2010 Good Food Training for London was approached by the catering services of London Borough of Barking and Dagenham to train their chefs. They were aware of a lack of skills within their workforce and saw the need to develop a course specifically aimed at addressing this skills shortage. From a detailed needs assessment which highlighted many of the problems, GCDA developed a bespoke three-day course based on their menus and specific needs. The course was practical and hands-on allowing the cooks to make dishes with fresh ingredients from scratch where previously they had been buying products in at unnecessary expense. The chef trainer gave them practical advice and tips on how to organise their kitchen procedures in order to save time and effort, and to achieve greater sustainability.
Over four weeks GCDA trained 50 of their staff and will return to train all the assistant cooks. Barking and Dagenham have shown remarkable dedication and commitment in training their staff, and the staff benefited from being able to spend time out of their kitchens, gaining practical skills and meeting other cooks from the area.
