Healthy Eating

This project ran from June to November 2011 as one of ten small projects designed to find innovative and sustainable ways of changing behaviour around food in Devonport. This was funded by the Strategic Health Authority as an action research project in response to data which consistently shows a 14 year gap in life expectancy between people spending their life in Devonport and Stonehouse and those in the suburbs of Plymouth.

The Zebra project concentrated on Devonport people over 60, and worked with a local resident and cookery teacher, Sarah Brown, to run tea dances with healthy suppers and information about healthy eating. We aimed at a measurable outcome in terms of amount of fruit and vegetables consumed, and attitudes to healthy eating. We also produced a recipe book of favourite old recipes in healthy and cheap versions.

Another outcome was to enable Sarah to start her own Social Enterprise, which would promote healthy eating on a budget in Devonport, and in the long term offer employment to local people. This proved immediately popular, and Sarah accessed support from Outset Plymouth to set up in business. She was offered catering work quickly and this should subsidise other activities like budgeting advice workshops and cookery lessons.

An unintended outcome was that several young people helped to serve the food and were able to access qualifications (Food Hygiene Certificates) as part of the project. One young person who had been unemployed for some time found that with a reference from Sarah for his work experience on this project, plus the qualification, the Jobcentre offered him an apprenticeship opportunity working in cafes.

Another great outcome was the enjoyment that people gained from the social occasion, the dancing, the food, the refurbished Guildhall. One Devonport man, too unwell to dance, said on leaving ‘It’s lovely to sit and watch people being happy’. Another group left a little man figure (we’d used these to collect information on how much fruit and veg people ate) to say ‘Thank you’.

To view the video Food Cultures: Growing, cooking, eating film follow the link