“Community anchor” has become a bit of a cool term, to describe the stature and relevance of organisations within a community to funders and policy makers. Alongside “anchor organisation” and “anchor institution” (see box insert) this jargon is doing the rounds, and though the language is not new[1], I wonder if we all mean the …
CFHS Blog
“Community anchor” – big or small? What’s in this term for community food initiatives to think about?
Also posted in CFHS updates
Area of Work: Information provision
In food bank Britain, how can Scotland best run holiday clubs?
“…. And it was the first time he’d ever seen the sea…” This is what I remember from the University’s evaluation of holiday clubs I once ran. I’ve long forgotten the academic’s impressive statistics – her pages of scientific proof of the equitable benefits of those holiday clubs – it is just this anecdote that …
Also posted in CFHS updates, News
Why becoming a Good Food Nation will be good for our health
Lesley McCranor, Executive Manager at Healthy Valleys, talks about the Scotttish Government’s Good Food Nation consultation … In 2017, 65% of adults aged 16 and over were overweight, including 29% who were obese. (NHS Health Scotland Nov 2018). Therefore, it may not be surprising to learn that Scotland has the fifth highest prevalence of obesity …
Also posted in CFHS updates, News
Reasons to be cheerful part 2 – CFHS cooking skills research. What did we learn about the best ways to run a cooking skills course?
Our cooking skills study group realist evaluation (2016-2018), gathered information from 29 community cooking skills courses (attended by 75 adults -all of whom were managing on low-incomes and the majority were ‘vulnerable’*). The results showed that: 79% improved their cooking skills (a further 16% could already cook) 68% made steps to improve their diet As …
Also posted in CFHS updates, Cooking skills research
Areas of Work: Cookery skills, Information provision, Research and evaluation
CFHS blog – Bad mood soup: a personal take on how you feel affects what you cook
‘… and maybe that dish isn’t identical the next time you make it, as you use your emotions when you cook …’ Neil Forbes, Chef (from twitter) One of my friends thinks I’m a great cook. I’m not really – average at best. I can do the basics – and I have perfected things that …
Also posted in CFHS updates
Area of Work: Information provision
Cooking skills blog: Cooking skills research – Reasons to be cheerful, part one
Earlier this year, around 50 people, many who run or manage cooking skills activities came together to hear evidence about the impact of community cooking activities. They heard from Professor Martin Caraher (City, University of London) and Dr Ada Garcia (University of Glasgow). Lyndsay Clark (Fife Health & Social Care Partnership) and I discussed the …
Also posted in CFHS updates, Cooking skills research
Areas of Work: Cookery skills, Information provision, Research and evaluation
Guest blog: Sue O’Neill-Berest from Cyrenians on food insecurity, cooking and using CFHS development funding to run sessions for young mums
Something to eat, someone to eat with The Food and Agricultural organisation of the United Nations has suggested that 8.4 million live in food insecure households in the UK. (Taylor, 2016) Some research conducted predominantly out with the UK found no significant positive link between the ability to cook and food security, whilst other studies …
Also posted in CFHS updates, Recruiting and working with vulnerable groups
Areas of Work: Food poverty and access, Funding, Information provision
CFHS blog – How can you support people with learning disabilities to eat better?
Finding good resources suitable to help people with learning disabilities to eat well can be a real challenge. The healthy eating, healthy living training pack is a unique tried-and-tested resource that provides thorough information on how to promote healthy eating messages in an interactive, simple and fun way for people with a range of learning …
Also posted in CFHS updates, Recruiting and working with vulnerable groups
Areas of Work: Food and nutrition training, Information provision, Learning disability
Guest blog – community-led research generates more than research knowledge
Our guest blog is from Lesley Greenaway, a free-lance evaluator and consultant. She has a PhD in Participative Evaluation, and is committed to building capacity for research and evaluation. What is distinct about community-led research is that it includes community members as active participants in the whole research process. This means finding ways to share decision-making in …
Also posted in CFHS updates, News
Areas of Work: Information provision, Research and evaluation
What do researchers talk about when they talk about cooking skills courses?
I was recently lucky enough to attend and present the results of our realist evaluation of cooking skills courses at a conference in Lisbon. This was the 3rd COOK and Health international conference and was attended by around 60 researchers, all of whom, like me, were enthusiastic about cooking skills. So what did we have …