Let’s help teens learn to cook!

Jamie and Jimmy visit a community centre that is helping teenagers learn to cook from scratch, giving them life-long skills in the kitchen.

Cooking from scratch is a fantastic way to save money and keep ourselves and our families healthy.

This week on Friday Night Feast Jamie and Jimmy show how cooking could be the key to protecting future generations from the double challenge of rising food prices and high rates of diet-related disease.

The boys hit the road to discover first-hand the benefits of helping teens learn to cook from scratch.

GIVING TEENS THE TOOLS TO COOK!

Shockingly, an estimated 800,000 children go to bed hungry every night in the UK.

Meanwhile, many young people turn to fast food and takeaways as the most affordable way to eat, which is contributing to rates of obesity and diet-related illness.

This week, Jamie and Jimmy head to the The Way youth zone in Wolverhampton to speak to some of the staff and members there about what they think, and try out a couple of cooking lessons.

The boys quickly discover that many teens are really keen to learn to cook, but simply haven’t had the opportunity to get into the kitchen. This can be for a variety of reasons: from not being able to afford ingredients to parents not having time or knowledge to pass on themselves.

So, together with the teens, Jamie and Jimmy cook pieces of chicken on the barbecue and a simple veggie stir-fry – the recipes are a definite hit!

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Being able to turn a pile of cheap ingredients into a nutritious meal opens up many possibilities. It can help save money, improve health and is shown to have a lasting impact.

Research shows that kids who spend time in the kitchen before the age of eight are 50% more likely to have a healthy diet in later life, so it really does make a difference.

But, as Jimmy says, “If you aren’t taught about eating well when you’re young, you’ll take that through to your own kids and the next generation.”

HOW CAN WE HELP?

Let’s empower the next generation! Teenagers across the UK need to be taught how to cook.

In the show we see Jamie and Jimmy host an event after their cook-up at The Way, inviting parents, local chefs and businesses to see just how well the team have cooked together.

By spreading the word, supporting charities, cookery clubs and other groups who teach teens to cook, we can give a whole generation the tools to properly look after themselves, and their future families.

Visit our Ministry of Food website to see how and where we’re teaching people to cook across the UK.

You can find Jamie and Jimmy’s other campaigns this year on the Friday Night Feast website, here.