Watch: Chef and rock fan Simon Wood talks Feeding Families for £30 initiative
He catches up with Loz Guest
Masterchef champion, restaurant owner and keen rock and metal aficionado Simon Wood has spoken to Kerrang! Radio’s Loz Guest about his #FeedingFamiliesFor30 initiative.
After watching the recent free school meals scandal unfold in the UK, Simon has started creating free recipes that families on a limited budget, or eating from a food bank, can use to make healthy, nutritious and delicious meals.
He's also partnered with food banks and charities to help you donate to your local outlet and help those in need.
Simon explains: “I’ve started this new campaign working in line with lots of different brands to help feed families for 30 quid. It’s really fulfilling. It’s nice to be involved with something that can make a big difference to so many people.”
Explaining more, Simon added: “When the government food parcels went out a couple of weeks ago now, everyone saw them and it just wasn't adequate. There was a lot of food in there that wasn't overly nutritious, well balanced, thought out, feasible. We saw things like 10 oven chips in a little carrier bag and half a green pepper and things like that. On the back of what Marcus Rashford has been doing, I've been talking with FareShare GM in Manchester and all the food banks and lots of different things about what people need and what people can get.
“We've come together with a range of recipes and ideas that they get from regular donations and things that can be made, for example, you've got fresh ingredients, if you haven't, if you've only got a microwave, if you've already got a kettle. We've been working with all kinds of restrictions, but these are the restrictions that people are actually dealing with and as a chef that's got the luxury of a fully fitted kitchen or two to go at, when you really strip it back and say ‘you can have this in a tin and there's a kettle’, it’s quite a challenge. But that's what people have to do day by day, which in this day and age is quite shocking and upsetting to be honest.”
Reflecting more about the situation many families are in, Simon continued: “With food poverty, you have to say that fuel poverty would come hand in hand. If can't afford a tin of beans and a loaf, then I'm pretty sure you haven't got a toaster or the electricity or a stove to heat it up and cook it in.
“So there's a more holistic view of this entire situation that needs to be addressed by people in government and people that can help like myself and charities, like you say, food banks and things like that. So, I'm doing my little piece of the puzzle, which is providing some nutritious and hopefully fun recipes that people will think ‘I didn't know I could do that so simply so I might just give it a go.’”
Watch Simon Wood’s full chat with Loz below where he also discusses some of the budget recipes he’s been concocting and more:
You can find all the recipes so far, as well as ways to donate, on the website www.feedingfamilieswithsimonwood.co.uk
You can also follow Simon on Twitter and Instagram, where he's releasing his recipes (and also talks about rock music!).
At Kerrang! Radio we've previously teamed up with The Trussell Trust, a nationwide network of foodbanks. Watch Loz Guest's visit to a foodbank where he talks to those affected by food poverty: