Romilla Arber
Obesity levels in the UK are increasing at an alarming rate and with the government doing little to help combat this, one mother, Romilla Arber, has taken matters into her own hands by establishing the Food Education Trust (www.foodeducationtrust.com), an independent charity. The Food Education Trust provides children and adults with cookery skills so they can learn how to make good, nutritious, home cooked meals from scratch and rely less on processed and pre-packed foods.
In the four years since it began, the Food Education Trust has touched the lives of thousands of people. Funding comes solely from sales of Romilla’s cookery books: “What’s for Dinner?” and the award-winning “What’s for Dinner? Second Helpings”, which have together raised over £20,000 to date, all of which is invested in the trust.
There is an enormous lack of food education within schools and adult education centres, many children are unable to identify everyday vegetables such as leeks, butternut squash and courgettes, but can recognize logos belonging to leading fast food chains!
The Food Education trust aims to rectify this worrying situation and where geographically possible, Romilla has visited schools and education establishments, provided ingredients, essential, modern cookery equipment and conducted cookery lessons on a weekly and monthly basis to ensure children are taught basic cookery skills to enable them to cook healthy meals. Romilla’s charity has also written a cookery manual for teachers to follow in areas where she is unable to travel to. In addition to the above, The Food Education Trust is currently advising schools on their menus and how to prepare meals on a limited budget.
“As a nation our diet is deteriorating rapidly. This is largely due to the large quantities of processed foods we are consuming on a daily basis. The number of families preparing meals from scratch has reduced. Both my books wholly fund the Food Education Trust and each one is packed full of simple, easy recipes which illustrate cooking with basic, raw ingredients need not be difficult.
They also show how eating a balanced diet is very easy as each week there are vegetarian, fish, red meat and poultry dishes. Not only that, but many recipes contain less than 400 calories per portion and cost less than £7, illustrating that faddy diets aren’t necessary, but a balanced diet is!” Comments Romilla.
Romilla’s charity provides vital support to many schools and education establishments and has equipped many children and adults with basic cooking skills and more importantly, has taught them the joy of creating meals from the beginning. With government funding being slashed, the Food Education Trust delivers much needed support and advice where it is needed.
Both “What’s for Dinner?” and the award-winning “What’s For Dinner? Second Helpings” are available from all good bookshops and can be purchased online at www.amazon.co.uk
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