Jamie Oliver is in town and The Good Guys is celebrating a successful five year partnership with the celebrity chef through its sponsorship of Jamie’s Ministry of Food, which encourages Australians to back into their own kitchens.
As a founding partner of Jamie’s Ministry of Food, The Good Guys has helped the program deliver cooking classes to more than 20,000 Australians since 2010.
There are now four Ministry of Food centres which host cooking classes with a focus on creating healthy meals from scratch, improving nutritional knowledge and cooking confidence to decrease the reliance on ordering takeaway. There are also two mobile kitchens in the program — purpose built classrooms on wheels which travel to metropolitan and regional communities.
The Good Guys chairman Andrew Muir says the grassroots programs are a good way to empower and encourage individuals and communities to make healthy life choices.
“We wanted to bring Jamie’s Ministry of Food program to Australia because as a business that sells one out of every three refrigerators in Australia, we wanted to help customers make informed decisions about what they were putting in their fridge and wanted to make a positive impact on the growing issue of obesity in Australia,” he said.
Last year Deakin University released a report outlining the long term health benefits of the program. The report showed participants significantly increased their vegetable and fruit intake and their confidence to cook, resulting in eating more meals at home and less takeaway.
“It is fantastic to see the impact that the program has already had in such a short period of time and I am really proud that The Good Guys has been able to be a part of this fight against obesity and help to build a happier and healthier Australia.”
Muir also confirmed The Good Guys continuing support for the program.
“We have only just started this battle and we look forward to continuing working with the Jamie’s Ministry of Food team to expand the program into more areas over the coming years,” Muir said.
Jamie Oliver is also a brand ambassador for Tefal’s cookware and the French brand is the event partner for Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Live, held on Sunday 29 March 2015 at Sydney Opera House.