Food and healthy eating projects offer the best results for families when they are practical, culturally respectful and directly transferrable from workshop to homes, according to research from University of Northampton (UON).
Initiatives such as 50 Families can support better and healthier futures for people and communities.
50 Families is a strategic philanthropic project, supported by Northamptonshire Community Foundation and Food4Heroes, evaluated by the University of Northampton, and delivered by Home-Start Northampton, Power of the Mind Networks, and The Spring Charity.
The charities promoted healthy, economical eating to help reduce pressures on 50 families who access their services, such as ongoing cost of living challenges.
50 Families also aimed to build people’s confidence and skills with healthier food and cooking and reduce social isolation, by encouraging families to connect with and support each other. Support included cooking workshops, peer learning, and culturally relevant food activities.
Although some interventions already exist (food banks, school holiday healthy eating), they only offer short-term solutions and very little for families to ‘take away’ and use in the home.
Academics at the University – Associate Professor Dr Helen Caldwell, from the Centre for Active Digital Education and Dr Emel Thomas, from the Centre for the Advancement of Racial Equality – have completed a report about the impact of 50 Families. Key findings and recommendations include:
- 52% report an increased awareness of healthy eating and lifestyle choices
- 59% felt either “very confident” or “confident” with their cooking at the end of the project
- Parents expressed confidence in their own health improving with 82% rating their health as average or better in the final survey
- Fund beyond short-term pilots to support lasting health outcomes
- Invest in fully equipped kitchens so families can cook together
- Integrate affordable, family-friendly physical activity alongside food initiatives.
A toolkit has also been produced that gives practical sessions for families who wish to continue cooking together and to fit into busy lives in diverse homes. It can be found on page 37 of the report.
Jayce is one of the family members who took part in 50 Families. He says: “I would recommend (projects like this) to other families. It was so fun trying new foods together, it has made us think more about what we can use our air fryer for and we regularly use it for new recipes, including rice dishes, we made the rice paper wraps before and it’s something we still make, we have tried it with chicken and pork, pork being the tastiest.”
“For someone introverted such as myself, it was really nice to be with other families and work together to make some tasty foods and help my daughter to socialize more.”
Associate Professor Dr Helen Caldwell sums up her and Dr Thomas’ thoughts: “Healthy eating is about so much more than just getting your ‘five a day’. There are multiple considerations for families to ensure a nutritious diet, compounded by the on-going cost-of-living challenges. With 50 Families, partners looked at strategies to address some of these.
“Food is such a unifying part of our lives. Whether we go to the shops to buy it, make it into meals or do the washing up afterwards, food touches the lives of every person in our homes, our communities or anywhere on the planet.
“There are many successes from 50 Families that are illustrated in the final report – and can be applied to people outside Northamptonshire – such as stronger family connections and familial bonds and bringing people together from different communities to learn more about how they live.
“Food is such a good way of doing this and Emel and I invite people to read the report, look at the toolkit and ‘have a go’ themselves at creating their own 50 Families group.”
John Brownhill, Founder, Food4Heroes, said: “When we launched Food4Heroes during the pandemic, we saw how access to nutritious food directly affected health outcomes, but emergency relief wasn’t enough.
“The 50 Families Project, developed with Northamptonshire Community Foundation and delivered by outstanding grassroots organisations, shows that practical, community-led food education can drive real, lasting change. Parents are cooking from scratch, children are trying new foods, and families are building confidence and connections beyond the kitchen.
“This project proves that dignity, collaboration, and prevention-focused investment can reduce inequality in meaningful ways, and we’re proud to have helped initiate a model that can be sustained and scaled to support more families.”