Inside a Knowle West kitchen making a big difference
Ladles of steaming fresh pasta are piled onto waiting plates to be accompanied by a vibrant mozzarella, tomato, basil and peach salad created just moments before by some of the latest cohort from Square Food Foundation’s How To Be A Chef course.
Everyone sits together, discussing their morning work, collaboration with a nearby community garden and more.
It’s all part of the Square Food ethos, which centres around food education, reducing poverty and bringing people together through food and cooking.
“One of our mottos is everyone has a place at the table, so it’s really just encouraging people to cook from scratch,” explains Charlotte Fife, head of community cookery at Square Food Foundation.
Square Food Foundation runs its How to be a Chef programme in partnership with Bristol24/7 and past participants have gone on to jobs in hospitality venues across Bristol and beyond.
Lilia says: “So many things are much more simple than I thought they would be. It’s all really attainable – it’s not pretentious. I think it’s really great to have someone show you how to make these things and show you what went wrong.”
The 23-year-old adds: “With cooking, you can get a bit stressed out but I’ve realised it doesn’t have to be like that – it can be a real community thing and about eating together. Also thinking about waste – they’re really big on zero waste here.”
“Behind it, there’s a far bigger, more serious and important agenda than just learning how to cook, which is about preparing society for the future – we’re up against climate change and escalating food prices and all the other things in the world, which are unsettling,” Barny tells Bristol24/7.
“Because of the variety we do, hopefully they can find what they really like and what they want to focus on because there are so many routes into the hospitality industry, it’s not just becoming a chef,” says Charlotte.
“We hope they find their passion for an industry that is suffering. If we can get young talent in now, it’s only going to benefit the Bristol food scene later.”
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I’m a diversity consultant and a design and communications consultant. I help people and organisations develop vision, communicate and deliver cultural change.