Driving away inequality with Edinburgh Food Social

We recently teamed up with partners Edinburgh Food Social (EFS) and unveiled a brand-new food truck to tackle food inequality in the Scottish capital.

This exciting, new project between ourselves and EFS aims to provide cookery education to schools and communities in Edinburgh.

The social enterprise was set up by City Businesswoman, Eleanor Cunningham, who also runs the Edinburgh Larder cafes and catering business in the city. Eleanor successfully launched a crowdfunding campaign last year to raise funds for the project, raising a total of £10,000. We also pledged our support behind the venture by providing a financial donation, as well as forming a long-term partnership with the not-for-profit organisation. The relationship will see our chefs and catering staff leading workshops and sharing their knowledge with participants of the food truck initiative.

Eleanor said: “We want to encourage young people and their parents to cook more and found that many families felt they didn’t have the skills to prepare a wholesome meal from scratch using accessible, fresh ingredients. We want to give people the confidence to cook again and to teach them that healthy eating does not need to be expensive. So far we’ve been able to deliver healthy eating and cooking programmes to six schools in Edinburgh, as well as taking part in the two-day ‘Power of Food’ festival which celebrates community gardens and seasonal produce. We can now expand the initiative and will be unveiling a series of workshops, cookery classes and school visits later this year, where the food truck will act as a mobile classroom and provide a purpose-built kitchen.”

Our very own Sandy Robson, who is working on the project with EFS, also commented: “At Sodexo we are passionate about local food and sharing our skills with the next generation. Learning to cook can be the first step in developing a passion for food, this in turn can lead to a rewarding and diverse career in hospitality. We hope that together with EFS, we can extend beyond simply improving the quality of dishes that families cook together and encourage some of the young people to consider a career in hospitality.”

The food truck was officially launched with the help of Gracemount High School, whose pupils have already benefited from the exciting project.