Greencore hits the road with Cooking Bus to serve up healthy lessons for employees

Greencore Prepared Foods is training its staff to prepare healthy meals at home in a scheme funded by Yorkshire Forward and run by the Focus on Food Campaign.

A Cooking Bus will spend a week during the school break training 700 staff at the company's Kiveton site near Sheffield. The initiative is part of Greencore's commitment to help all its staff improve their health and fitness.

The Focus on Food Campaign was set up almost 10 years ago and now runs a fleet of Cooking Buses, staffed by qualified food teachers. Each vehicle contains a purpose-built kitchen/classroom.

The buses are used mainly to visit schools and train teachers and pupils. This is the first time the scheme has been extended to a major food manufacturer.

Alongside mixed classes for production staff, there will be special classes for men, the product development team and members of a Weight Watchers diet group.

Classes will cover nutrition, food safety, hygiene and food preparation skills.

"We know how hard it can be to change your dietary habits and it must be particularly hard if you are working with food all day, having challenging shifts and a site restaurant with tempting treats available," said Anita Cormac, director of the Focus on Food Campaign. "But having the skills to cook tasty, nutritious food at home will give people more choice in what they eat."