Just Cook Tika Tunu at Auckland City Mission

Following a partnership with the new residents at the Auckland City Mission’s HomeGround apartments, the New Zealand Nutrition Foundation approached the Child Poverty Action Group and the Mission’s Food Security team to jointly offer a series of cooking sessions in 2023, supported by a bequest from the estate of Cliff Tasman-Jones.

Six sessions were delivered from March to May 2023 coordinated by the Nutrition Foundation’s nutritionist and cooking tutor and the Mission’s food security researcher. The focus of the “hands on” programme was to teach clients about cooking healthy kai, as well as showcasing ways to save money. People cooked and ate together.

The Nutrition Foundation planned the menus, as well as sourcing a range of products from Sanitarium, Goodman Fielder, Heinz and Countdown vouchers for participants.

17 participants attended the programme across the 6 weeks. Some people attended regularly, and others attended only 1 or 2 sessions.

In addition to the six sessions, tasting sessions were offered at the City Mission Food Security base for the final three weeks of the programme. Recipes showcasing food parcel ingredients were prioritised – with the ingredients supplied from food parcel items.