What we do
Gastro Academy - Gastronomy educational workshops
We promote sustainability, healthy lifestyles and nutrition while by using toolkits of gastronomy and food we also enhance children’s basic-, psychomotor and social skills
In our workshops, we provide children with practical skills and talk about the importance of conscious shopping, sensible planning, reducing food waste and waste-free households. We dedicate a special focus for underprivileged and disabled children and communities. Our workshops are designed to provide them with a memorable community experience, while using the tools of gastronomy to develop their skills and transfer practical knowledge.
Our Gastro Academy workshop is an innovative programme that helps to alter children’s perceptions in the early stage of their development, guiding them towards a sustainable, environmentally conscious, healthier and more inclusive world.
When creating and running our Gastro Academy programme, the psychologist and special needs teacher of the Budapest Józsefváros Municipality provided invaluable professional support.
The initial target group for our Gastro Academy is age group of 7-13, but we also offer programmes for 4–7-year-old children and have already started to develop a programme for 14–18-year-olds.
The objectives of the Gasztro Academy programme:
- Raise awareness amongst children and help develop behavioural patterns early in childhood to encourage the reduction of food waste, so that they are also able to consciously influence their surroundings.
- Give children hands-on experience of zero-waste food preparation and environmentally friendly kitchen processes that support a healthy lifestyle, resulting in delicious, healthy and nutritious food.
- Demonstrate the importance of raising consumer awareness, planning and organising shopping and food preparation efficiently for a sustainable future. We aim to reduce household waste by providing information, practical recipes for food preparation and household planning/shopping materials. It is important to stress that cooperation of all players in the food supply chain is also needed to tackle the problem.
- Address the adult community around children in the fight against food waste as they play a key role in shaping the habits of the next generation. Through our education programmes for children, we also reach their communities and families, encouraging the children to share their new knowledge and personal experiences on preventing food waste and contributing to a sustainable future for our environment.
- In line with our overall mission, in our Gasztro Academy workshops using toolkits of gastronomy we also enhance children’s basic-, psychomotor and social skills:
- comprehension, reading, writing, counting – through the use of recipes,
- psychomotor development – through cooking activities,
- creativity and communication skills – through group work.
6. We offer a shared community experience
Charity cooking events
By the charity cooking events we aim to raise social awareness while offering support for those in need. We organise charity cooking events to companies wishing to ‘give back’ and also to contribute to positive social change by supporting sustainable, zero-waste, healthy lifestyles.
During the event, the donor and the representatives of the donation recipient have the opportunity to meet and have an informal conversation in order to get to know each other’s activities and better understand what the healthy food means for them. The programme helps to educate the donor company’s staff and the personal relationships developed during the events help to better understand the problems of the supported group.
Charity cooking programmes are structured in two parts:
I. Preparing donation meals for a specific target group in need – we cook the food donated by the donor in a professional kitchen. The donated food (prepared and packaged in a professional kitchen) is delivered to the supported group. There is an opportunity for the donor’s staff to place personal messages or company logos on the prepared food boxes.
II. A common social awareness-raising practical cooking programme where members of the donor company and the supported group are present. During the shared cooking programme, the donor’s staff meet and cook together with representatives of the supported group, during which informal discussions may take place between the participants. The awareness-raising cooking programme is carried out with the assistance of experts – our staff, professional chefs, the donor’s staff and the representatives of the supported group. During the cooking event, the donor’s staff and the representative of the supported group prepare and enjoy the same menu that the donor is willing to deliver to the supported group.
By participating in our charity cooking programme we are able to help those in need and create a memorable community experience too.
Providing support for underprivileged communities
We continue to find ways to provide support to underprivileged groups by channelling surplus resources or donated supplies.
