Community-based cooking program Cook Chill Chat has proven a recipe for success in the Illawarra.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Healthy Cities Illawarra has partnered with Illawarra community groups to bring vulnerable and socially disadvantaged people together to cook and share a meal, while seeking to boost cooking skills and increase nutritional knowledge.
The ‘Cook Chill Chat’ program was established by HCI’s community nutrition team in 2015.
It is a six-week cooking program that transforms into an ongoing cooking group embedded within the community organisation.
Cooking sessions run for three hours, and involve aspects of interactive education, cooking and sharing meals.
From 2015 to 2017, a dozen Cook Chill Chat sessions have run across the Illawarra-Shoalhaven, involving more than 130 participants.
Shelli Bennett, a member of the Albion Park Community Garden is a Cook Chill Chat facilitator. “This program is so important for so many reasons,” she said.
“Firstly, every participant, including myself, learned facts about healthy eating and nutrition.
“The second most important part of the program is the idea of social inclusion, social community.
“Many older people, or people with disabilities, or people who are new to the community, can experience extreme isolation which leads to depression.
“Coming together to cook a meal, to share ideas, to share cooking tips... Then to sit down and share that meal together with good conversation while eating, and afterwards having a laugh while we all clean up, these things fill the soul as well as the stomach.”
HCI health promotions officer and Cook Chill Chat project manager Sophie Wright-Pedersen attributed the program’s success to the open group setting and educational components.
“It is through the welcoming and non-confrontational environment of Cook Chill Chat sessions that lead to the program’s success.
“The sessions are adapted to suit the participants involved and focus on cooking and sharing a healthy meal together, while learning about simple healthy eating and cooking tips and techniques as a group.”
