This blog post looks at a research article which suggests that possessing cooking ‘skills’ is only one of a range of factors associated with whether a person is actually more likely to cook their meals at home. The article explored who is more likely to cook at home and why; and what impact home cooking …
CFHS updates
Cooking skills blog 27: Cooking skills research: Are you more likely to cook if you have cooking skills?
Also posted in CFHS Blog, Cooking skills research
Areas of Work: Cookery skills, Information provision, Research and evaluation
CFHS development fund recipients 2016
In total, 38 voluntary and community groups have been allocated development funding by Community Food and Health Scotland, allowing them to promote and deliver healthy eating initiatives. CFHS, part of NHS Health Scotland, aims to ensure that everyone in Scotland has the opportunity, ability and confidence to access a healthy and acceptable diet for themselves, …
Also posted in Funding news, News
Area of Work: Funding
Cooking skills Blog 26: Finding out if your cooking skills courses are ‘working’: Using both questionnaires and observation as methods
This week, my colleague Jacqui and I have been visiting members of our cooking skills study group and discussing what we have been finding out so far from some of their course evaluation materials. All members of the group are aiming to collect more robust evaluation materials from their courses than they might do usually. …
Also posted in CFHS Blog, Finding out if your cooking skills courses are working
Areas of Work: Cookery skills, Information provision, Research and evaluation
Booking open for CFHS community café visits
Booking is now open for CFHS’s latest community café learning visits, on 24 March in Edinburgh. The visits are open to anyone involved in or with a community café. The aim of the visits is to bring together café staff, volunteers, board / committee members or support / development workers to learn about how other …
Also posted in Events and conferences
Area of Work: Community cafes and retailing
Cooking skills blog 25: Finding out if your cooking skills courses are ‘working’: Guest blog by Jacqui McDowell: ‘The confidence conundrum’
This week, my colleague Jacqui McDowell gives her views on the challenges (and possible solutions) to measuring confidence: ‘If I could, I’d ban people from using the word confidence in the context of cooking classes. Extreme – probably, wrong – I’ll let you decide. Confidence is a tricky thing to measure and assess accurately, whether …
Also posted in CFHS Blog, Finding out if your cooking skills courses are working
Areas of Work: Cookery skills, Information provision
CFHS cooking skills learning exchange 2016
Our cooking skills learning exchange took place at the Apex Grassmarket Hotel in Edinburgh on 10 November 2016. The event was aimed at those who plan to, or already run, manage or commission community cooking skills courses in low-income communities in Scotland, and who were looking to improve the way they run, review and assess …
Also posted in Events and conferences, News
Area of Work: Cookery skills
Household food insecurity
In December 2016, at Serenity Café in Edinburgh, a workshop was held sharing learning about, and reflecting on, work that is currently taking place in Scotland and in the rest of the UK on the issue of household food insecurity measurement. The day was supported by NHS Health Scotland, the Rural and Environment Science and …
Also posted in Events and conferences, News, Research and consultations
Areas of Work: Food poverty and access, Networking and learning development
Cooking skills blog 24: Cooking skills research: cooking, confidence and enjoyment
Last year, Dr Ada Garcia and her colleagues published a narrative review on community cooking courses and their impact on people’s confidence to cook and their eating behaviour. The review wasn’t systematic, so it looks at a relatively small number of studies. However, if you are looking for academic evidence on the impact of community …
Also posted in CFHS Blog, Cooking skills research
Areas of Work: Cookery skills, Information provision
Cooking skills blog 23: Guest blog by Jacqui McDowell – The social value of cooking and eating together
This week, my CFHS colleague Jacqui reflects on the social aspects of cooking and eating. ‘Who will you eat Christmas dinner with this year? Will you or someone else do the cooking? Me, I’ll be at home with my partner and his learning disabled sister. She will be peeling the spuds, carrots and parsnips, while …
Also posted in CFHS Blog, Ideas about developing and running cooking skills courses
Areas of Work: Cookery skills, Information provision
Cooking skills blog 28: How do cooking course practitioners support people experiencing food insecurity?
Katy Gordon, a PhD student took part in an internship within the CFHS programme late last year. She focused on a project on food insecurity and cooking courses and carried out an online survey and interviewed practitioners from six organisations. Here are the main findings from a report (which will be available in May). Six …