Community cooking class teaching how to keep food costs down while creating new friendships

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The high cost of living is a problem affecting many Melbournians. And being light on cash often goes hand-in-hand with social isolation. A local library has tried to come up with answers to both issues, by combining books with cooks.

Transcript

00:00 Inside this unassuming library, there's a room with no books, but dozens of people are

00:07 still learning. The library has started budget-friendly cooking classes, which offer more than a free

00:15 lunch. Gloria Khouri attends regularly, not just to learn about cost-cutting and culinary

00:21 skills, but also to make friends.

00:24 I was lonely and vulnerable, and I want to connect with people. Sometimes we need a place

00:30 to be just to interact with other people and enjoy a good time together.

00:36 Socialising is a core part of the class for others too.

00:39 It gets people away from being isolated. It's good for mental health. It's also a really

00:44 nice group of people.

00:47 Meet lots of different people from different countries, which makes it very interesting.

00:53 These cooking classes have been a great opportunity for participants to meet other people and

00:57 learn about new cuisines. But organisers are also keeping a focus on keeping the cost of

01:01 meals down amid the cost of living crisis.

01:04 We are thinking about budgets and trying to keep it affordable for people.

01:09 Food insecurity is a really big issue at the moment, with so many Australians counting

01:15 every single dollar that they've got.

01:17 It's a problem this cooking class is helping to address at a community level. But organisers

01:22 say far more needs to be done.

01:25 The right to food, to a dignified, affordable, healthy diet is a human right and that's a

01:31 responsibility of every level of government.

01:33 But for now, new friends are creating change, one meal at a time.

01:37 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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