A COMMUNITY interest company helping disadvantaged families cook healthy food from scratch has launched its own cookbook.
Mary Needham-Carlton, co-founder of Munch, produced the Munch, Lunch and Dinner cookbook to support people in making nutritious and eco-conscious meals on a budget.
Winchester charities, business leaders, councillors and customers joined the Munch team to celebrate the launch at South Downs Social café on Tuesday, November 21.
As well as being available to the wider public, the community interest company, based at Winnall Comunity Centre, will use the book in its community workshops.
The book features 40 recipes, including 20 in an easy-read format, as well as tips on what oils to use, how to waste less and chopping guides.
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Mary, 46, said: “It’s really exciting. It’s been a year in the making so it’s great to see it finally come to fruition.
“It’s quite an important book for the communities that we work with and really useful tool for people to have in their kitchen to get new ideas.
“We’ve been asked to write a cookbook for a long time but never tackled it until now. We wanted to create something a bit more real and highlight the bigger problem surrounding food insecurity and generation gap in being able to cook from scratch.
“We wanted to break down recipes so they are really easy. The book has got things such as soups, stir fries, quesadillas and pasta – meals that you can batch cook, helping people to avoid waste.”
Munch is one of more than 300 members of Hampshire Fare, a community interest company championing local produce across the county.
Speaking at the launch, Hampshire Fare’s new commercial manager, Natasha Dochniak, said: “It’s a pleasure to be invited. Munch is a valued member of Hampshire Fare and it’s really exciting to see how much they have achieved in such a little amount of time.
“Hearing Mary’s story really resonates not just with me but the wider community. It’s really important to have a diverse membership of businesses especially as Hampshire Fare is a community interest company itself. We share lots of values with Munch and that’s why we are so closely aligned and why we are doing all we can to support Mary and her team.”
SEE ALSO: Hampshire Fare: Natasha Dochniak is new commercial manager
Sarah Pawson, a director of Munch, said: “It’s amazing, especially. looking at statistics of how the workshops have supported the community and the food tastes lovely too.
“It’s real recipes for real people. It’s cooking wonderful food on a budget. A book like this can help you find your own way to do it.”
Munch offers events catering which funds all its community workshops such as after-school grub clubs and adult lunch clubs.
The company provides recipes, ingredients and equipment so everybody can cook their own food and take the leftovers home.
Munch, Lunch and Dinner is available from £14.99. All profits will help fund more workshops.
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