The Power of Five: Building food confidence one dish at a time

Building food confidence one dish at a time

CRuNCH, a charity which launched only two years ago, aims to tackle the rapid decline in cooking skills and food confidence among teenagers. The charity works with secondary schools by teaching students how to cook five simple, healthy meals before they leave home. The Cook 5 programme is fully funded and is built around five core dishes, five essential nutrition messages and is taught at the school once a week over five weeks.

Kate Percy, founder and CEO, says

Kate Percy, founder and CEO, says “Young people were leaving home without the ability to cook even a handful of simple, healthy meals. Food education has been squeezed in schools, and less cooking is happening at home. Teenagers are growing up surrounded by ultra-processed convenience food. When teenagers are taught to cook, they not only learn about food, but also discover independence and confidence.”

Recipes range from how to cook eggs, healthy pancakes, soups, stir fries, rice and pasta to classic burgers, ragus, koftas, falafals, vegetarian curries, dahls, pad Thai noodles and fajitas. The recipes are flexible, affordable and can be adapted for different cultures, diets and school facilities. Each course ends with a celebration where parents and carers join their children in the kitchen, strengthening links between school and home. “The classes are different to school cookery lessons. Music may be playing in the background, students are actively involved and encouraged to experiment – they love playing around with spices!” says Katie.

As a result of these cooking courses, schools report improved engagement and pride among students. “We’ve seen children who were shy or disengaged in school light up in the kitchen and take that positivity back into their homes and classrooms,” says Kate.

Jeanine Preece, Associate Assistant Principal at CLF Post 16, an education centre in Bristol for 16 to 19 year-olds, says: “Many of our students had never cooked before, but by week five they were cooking for their families. The change in their confidence has been amazing to see.”

Designed to Scale Nationally

Currently, The CRuNCH Charity operates in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, but the model is designed to scale nationally. Kate says “If a school in Birmingham or elsewhere is interested,
we can support them through resources, training and partnerships, even if direct delivery is not immediately possible.” The charity collaborates with local authorities and other charities working in this field such as Chefs in Schools. Its goal is to make Bristol the UK’s first ‘Cook5 City’, where every teenager leaves school able to cook five healthy meals.

Elsewhere in the country, the Prept Foundation is working with primary and secondary schools to deliver immersive cooking experiences in the classroom. Through the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts’ Adopt a School programme, Prept teaches primary school children in Sussex and beyond a variety of topics including; identifying different fruits and vegetables, where different varieties come from, bread-making, how to set a table, and undertake role-play activities set within “a restaurant”. The four one-hour sessions are taught in schools – no special equipment is required to participate.

For secondary schools, the course is designed for Years 7 to 11 and is tailored to each school’s facilities. Students learn from professional chefs affiliated with the charity, who teach them vital cooking skills and inspire them with the possibility of a career in hospitality.