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Members train to provide free basic food preparation courses to young parents. Food skills have always been at the heart of the NFWI and this year they have embarked on a much needed project to help tackle the problem of young mothers lacking the knowledge and skills to cook healthy meals for their children. Many have grown up on fast food and takeaways and never learnt to cook at school. The result is a generation of clinically obese children storing up ill health for their future. Let's Cook! launched in spring this year, aims to teach young mums (and keen dads) how to shop and cook healthily on a limited budget with funding by the Food Standards Agency. WI members are being trained to run free practical courses in basic food preparation for young parents who come from disadvantaged backgrounds but want to give their children the best start in life. Each six-week course will benefit six to ten participants, in communities across England and Wales. Students could be learning how to cook anything from pizzas, stir-fries and pasta bakes to a full Sunday roast. Both teachers and students are extremely enthusiastic about the project, which also teaches them about healthy eating, budgeting, food safety and hygiene. After large-scale training of WI members in March, Let's Cook! projects are already up and running (or soon will be) in Essex, East Sussex, Gloucestershire, Avon, Herefordshire, Staffordshire, Humberside, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, West Sussex, Warwickshire and Tyne and Wear. At the time of writing (late May) more than 40 tutors have been trained and others are waiting. More training sessions for Let's Cook! are planned - at Denman College in September and in Wales in October - and the project will continue until 2009. The NFWI is looking for tutors in other federations so, if you are interested, contact Elaine Smith, Project Co-ordinator on email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or Diane Sanderson, Home Economics Adviser on email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Alternatively call the NFWI Unit on 01865 391908. Let Denman get you cooking! If you have been inspired by the recipes appearing in Woman's World, why not consider improving your culinary skills at Denman, the WI's residential college in Oxfordshire? Phone 01865 391991 to book a course or request a programme. These are just a few of the courses on offer:
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