Help us launch Grow Cook Eat

 

Hi, we're Scarlett, Liz, and Ben, three friends with a passion for the power of knowing and growing food.

 

Grow Cook Eat is a Suffolk-based, community interest (not for profit) company focused on cultivating a love of nature, community, growing, cooking & eating in young people.

 

OUR MISSION is to get young people excited about where their food comes from and build a strong connection with nature and the planet.

 

OUR GOAL is to get young people to care about what they eat by giving them the confidence and inspiration to grow and cook their own food.

 

OUR BELIEF is that connecting young people to nature in this way can improve mental health & well-being, as well as inspire healthy eating. And education on this has to start young!

 

We have grand plans, but to start, we're looking to raise funds by the end of March for two projects:

 

1. We have secured the contract for the catering at Bealings School (a state primary near Ipswich) where we will be providing tasty, healthy, and nutritious meals using mostly organic and locally sourced produce. The aim is that some ingredients will be grown by the children at the school. We are hoping that this will become a sustainable model that can be rolled out across Suffolk schools. This is starting on the 4th April 2022.

 

2. We have access to a covered field kitchen, with growing beds, in a village just outside Ipswich. We will be bringing groups of 11 to 13-year-olds from local state schools to learn how to grow produce, cook that produce, and share a communal meal. This project will likely start in the summer term, but we need to get the site up and running in preparation for the classes.

 

We have been inspired by the work of Chefs in Schools, Grow and Wildfarmed, and we want to offer similar experiences and opportunities to young people in Suffolk.

 

The funds will be used for the set-up costs for both projects:

 

Bealings School

Updating the kitchen equipment (supplementing what the school will provide)

Catering supplies

Staff training incl. food safety courses

Insurance

Administrative costs

 

Little Blakenham

Gardening tools

Seeds, plants and mini greenhouse

Cooking equipment to teach up to 10 children at a time in the covered field kitchen

Startup ingredients and catering supplies

Staff & staff training incl. food safety courses
Pilot courses 

Insurance

Administrative costs including initial project manager to onboard the schools

 

The schools involved in both projects will be paying a contribution towards them, and our aim is that once the projects are up and running, they become sustainable without further funding being required. The funds are purely in order to get the projects up and running and support them in the early phase. If you would like any further information, please get in touch via our instagram @wearegrowcookeat and we'd be happy to respond to any queries you might have.

 

The more funds we raise, the more classes we can offer at Little Blakenham and the faster we can develop and expand our plans.

 

Thank you for your help!

PS Just a little about us - Scarlett ran a successful catering company, is a part-time lawyer and a mother to two energetic boys.
Liz is a passionate guide and teacher who has over 15 years experience working with young people in both young offenders institutes and high schools. Liz has an allotment and supports young people to grow and harvest produce with her there. You might say she's the green fingered one amongst us!

Ben runs a creative agency, is a keen cook and a soon to be father.