Share The Love With Meal Makers

Every now and then an idea so simple, so geniously, wonderfully simple comes along and makes the world a little bit better to live in. I know what you’re thinking – that’s a fairly loud call to be making. But after you read this article I know you’re going to agree with me wholeheartedly and instantly want to tell everyone you know about the amazing project that is Meal Makers. (And you can do that by simply sharing this article!)

Let’s start with the basic premise that when you cook dinner from scratch there is inevitably left overs. A small portion of mince, stew, macaroni, stir-fry or soup that languishes at the back of fridge until you eventually chuck it in the bin, move its final resting place to the freezer or feed it to the dog.  That’s the portion that meal makers are asking you to make a difference with.

You see, there are hundreds of older people living in our communities who struggle to cook themselves a hot meal from scratch.  This might be down to the ever-growing poverty trap, it may be because they’re physically unable or, sadly, it could simply be that after years of cooking for two, cooking for one is just too hard to do.

This is where Meal Makers come in. The idea that some of us are throwing food out or freezing it indefinitely while our neighbours just streets away are going without is utter madness.  Derived from the Food Train project Meal Makers has successfully built a process for getting your last portion of Shepherd’s Pie to the wee man two streets down.

Here’s how it works:

YOU - AKA THE COOK

Sign up online to become to a Meal Makers Cook and commit to contributing one meal a week, one meal a fortnight or one meal a month! Whatever you feel you can manage.  You’ll be asked to complete a basic profile and take an online Food Hygiene Quiz (I've just done it - don't panic, its easy. If you can’t answer you’d have killed yourself from food poisoning years ago).  

Someone in the Meal Makers office will contact you at which point you will need to go through a PVG check (this is a criminal check to make sure you’re safe to visit). This can take anything between three weeks and eight weeks so please, please sign up now!

Once this happens you’re given a handbook with some guidance and the online platform is opened up so you can be paired with diners in your area.

OLDER PEOPLE – AKA THE DINERS

Diners have been identified by various agencies in the Perth (PKAVS are one and others include Social Work, NHS and Home From Hospital) and their names passed to Meal Makers.  A member of the team will then chat over their likes and dislikes, any food allergies or preferences and write them up a profile for the website.  Much like any online profile it will chat about their favourite telly or books, what they did for a living and what they like to eat. This will help you pair up with someone who shares your interests as well as food tastes.

The wonder of technology then shows you everyone in your area and you simply make a request to pair up! Meal Makers do the intro, you go round for a cup or tea or have a chat over the phone and hopefully it’s the start of a foodie adventure! Easy Peasy!

Why Do It?

The reason I love this idea so much is that it costs nothing but a little bit of time and basic human compassion.  When I was little I grew up on a council estate; and back then in the seventies you looked out for your neighbour, you helped one another and you lived as a community. We did the whole 'meal makers' thing 35 years ago as a matter of course and I can't help but thinking that as well as feeding someone’s belly, it also fed a lot of hearts and souls.  Because often it’s not just the food that’s missing; loneliness is a terrible, terrible human affliction and your weekly or monthly visit to drop off a meal and offer a smile could make differences way beyond what you ever intended to do. 

I'd also suggest that the warm, fuzzy feeling of human kindness will become a two way street.  We are all so busy and so wrapped up in life that stepping out to meet someone new and offering up a simple, small meal will, I predict, help everyone involved regain that basic level of community kinmanship that has been diminishing for decades.  Imagine taking your children to drop off a meal to an elderly neighbour just because you can? The immense life lesson that that simple act will gift them is immeasurable.

When I spoke to Emma who leads the project she told me about real bonds of friendship that have developed in their existing areas.  I heard about older people trying new dishes and ingredients that they’d never, ever had tried otherwise. I know now that a few minutes chat on the doorstep can make someone’s week and that this can lead to two or three generations of people coming together to play board games before sitting down for tea.  How far the relationship goes is up to you and your diner.

Meal Makers has been running in Dundee since August 2014 and in Glasgow since January 2015. The plan for Perth is to start gathering Cooks NOW! The team have already began to chat to their old people and are building online profiles as I type. What they need now is a bank of cooks in order to start pairing everyone up. 

They plan an official Perth launch on Monday 23^rd November at Parklands Hotel (thank-you!) and  would like to have their first success stories ready and waiting!

SIGN UP to become a cook over on their website NOW! I've just done it and I promise it's simple to do.

If you’d like any posters or info for your workplace, club or social group then contact their office who will be happy to help you.

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