Andrew Muir Gears Up For Some Good Cooking With Jamie Oliver

The first Australian Jamie’s Ministry of Food Centre has opened its doors, and Andrew Muir, Chairman of leading electrical retailer and founding partner, The Good Guys, is asking customers to ‘have their say’ and get behind this important healthy eating initiative.

Mr Muir has pledged that The Good Guys will donate a percentage from every in-store and online transaction to help support Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia, which will assist community organisation, The Good Foundation, to open more centres and encourage people in local communities across Australia to adopt healthier eating habits and to start cooking.

Together with The Good Foundation, The Good Guys aims to assist members of the community to increase their knowledge of good food and learn to prepare healthy meals and get back to basics in the kitchen.

The first Jamie’s Ministry of Food centre, which opened in Ipswich, Queensland on Tuesday, April 14, will offer a 10 week cooking course, comprising of one 90 minute cooking class per week. Each class has 12 participants and are completely hands-on so participants get to see, smell, feel and taste everything they cook.

“The Ministry Of Food is so simple in what it does: It’s about celebrating great food with guidance, love, care and attention. It’s for anyone, from any background and it really does change lives,” said Jamie Oliver.

Andrew believes the centre opening is a good start for tackling a nation-wide issue and believes Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia is a positive step in the right direction for the whole community.

“There’s a real groundswell of people who are ready to make changes in their lives, to improve their health and wellbeing,” said Andrew.

“This initiative will hopefully help encourage locals to get involved, get inspired and help keep cooking skills alive,” he said.

Alicia Peardon, Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia Program Director and General Manager of The Good Foundation, believes Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia is one way communities can become better equipped to cook healthy meals, feel more confident in the kitchen and maintain a healthier weight.

“Jamie’s Ministry of Food provides people with the tools and information to make better choices about food. It’s a little bit of mentoring, hints, tips, shortcuts, how to shop, how to save money and how to make beautiful, quick tasty meals,” she said.

“We’ve already had over 1200 people register their interest for classes, and we are already fully booked up until the end of July,” she continued.

Jamie plans to tackle Australia’s obesity crisis head on. “I’m so excited for Australia, a country that I love. Our dream is to open up more of these Centre’s, at least one in every state, thanks to partners like my friends at The Good Guys who started this dream with me.”

Australia is now one of the most obese countries in the world. Changes in family life, the rise of convenience foods, and a lack of compulsory food education in schools has resulted in huge numbers of people losing touch with one of life’s most essential skills: cooking. Jamie, The Good Foundation and The Good Guys passionately believe that the most effective way to combat this lack of knowledge is to tackle it head on, with good information and practical cooking lessons for everyone.

Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia plans to build, equip and run permanent and mobile centres around the country. To find out more about Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia, simply visit www.thegoodfoundation.com.au.