Cooking it with style

EVEN without Jamie Oliver in the room, Jamie's Ministry of Food is managing to cook up a storm in Gympie.

Students yesterday were in their second week of learning how to prepare easy, cheap and nutritious meals, from scratch and from healthy ingredients.

The Ministry of Food is based on Jamie Oliver's theories about why so many of us are malnourished, including those of us who are overweight.

The Ministry has come to town in the form of a huge semi-trailer, which folds out into a large and fully equipped commercial kitchen.

It is parked near Lake Alford and the Bruce Hwy and, with places all booked out for its first series of lessons, the second "cycle" is filling up fast.

The Ministry of Food program describes itself as a mobile "food revolution" aimed at freeing people from poor health and nutrition issues by teaching the sometimes lost skills of home cooking.

The visit is enthusiastically supported by Gympie Regional Council, which is handling inquiries and course bookings.

These can be arranged by contacting council officer Sue-Ann Higgins on 5481 0743.

Mayor Ron Dyne said the kitchen visit was also backed by the Queensland Government and The Good Foundation, which was established in 2010 to focus on programs and projects that promote good health and nutrition.

The foundation is a project of The Good Guys, working with Jamie Oliver to bring his Ministry of Food to Australia.

And, proving they believe in their work, two Good Guys staff, Elaine Alchin and Rebecca Hines, drove up from the Sunshine Coast to attend their lesson yesterday.