Case study: Supporting Longsight residents with low energy cooking
In Spring 2024 we ran a 6 week long slow cooking course with Open Kitchen at the Northmoor Community Association in Longsight.
With the increase cost of living, it can be difficult to know how to save money on energy bills at home. But did you know that changing the way you cook food can help?
As part of the In Our Nature programme, we wanted to share the simple ways that residents can make the most of their energy and time. Working together with the team at Northmoor Community Association, we learnt about the challenges facing local residents and worked together on how best to support them.
We teamed up with Open Kitchen to deliver a series of slow cooker workshops, using live cookalongs and groups discussions to showcase tasty recipes using low-cost healthy ingredients.
Together, the group learned how slow cookers can save them some time throughout the day and help cut the cost of their energy bills, along with a bunch of delicious one pot recipes that have helped to spice up their kitchens!
Check out our short video below to hear from the people involved…
What was the impact?
Of the people we surveyed 100% agreed that:
they know how to reduce food waste at home
they know how to save energy when cooking at home
they have been able to share what they learnt at the workshops with family and friends
"Thank you for offering a wonderful class and slow cooker. If not I wouldn't have thought about buying it. I have no time to wait now and I understand how it works"
3 months later we caught up with participants who had been using their new slow cookers and …
100% have said that since receiving the slow cooker, they have been cooking and eating healthier dishes. I.e. more veg, less meat and less oil
50% have said they felt healthier because of the new meals
50% said they noticed a difference in their energy bill
"I can see on my smart meter how much my appliances cost to use and the slow cooker has been much cheap than the oven"
Interested in having a go at slow cooking for yourself?
Check out our guide to slow cooking and 5 tasty slow cooker recipes to get started!
