Geelong home to Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food

4 July 2012

Minister for Health David Davis has announced that Victoria’s new Ministry of Food centre is to be located in Geelong.

The Victorian Government is partnering with The Good Foundation to set up Jamie’s Ministry of Food Victoria, a cooking and nutrition education program.

Jamie Oliver’s successful program will be based in Geelong as part of Victoria’s new statewide push to promote healthy eating – the Victorian Healthy Eating Enterprise.

Victoria has committed $2.87 million to The Good Foundation to support the delivery of the program here in Victoria, which also includes the establishment of a Ministry of Food Mobile Kitchen.

The Geelong centre and the mobile kitchen together will offer cooking classes to over 10,000 Victorians as well as cooking demonstrations.

CEO of Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia, Alicia Peardon said Jamie’s Ministry of Food aims to inspire people to get back to basics and start cooking meals from scratch again.

“The program is designed to empower people, through giving them the resources and confidence to cook at home and make some simple, but powerful, changes to the way they eat and feed their families,” Alicia said.

The Jamie’s Ministry of Food centre in Geelong will provide:

• advice on ingredients and fresh seasonal produce
• tips on how to go shopping on a budget and make it last
• advice on how to prepare food and cook it
• simple and easy, step-by-step recipes
• basic tips on budgeting and meal planning
• advice on how to read food labels.

Jamie Oliver, who recently visited Victoria, is thrilled with the announcement of the Geelong centre.

"For the people of Geelong and the surrounding area, this is fantastic news and I know everyone involved from The Good Foundation will make sure that anyone who comes to the new Ministry of Food will leave inspired. My heartfelt thanks go to everyone who has helped to make this happen," Jamie said.

The City of Greater Geelong has been selected to host the kitchen based on its large population size and community characteristics suited to the initiative.

The Ministry of Food kitchen will be located in Central Geelong with a shopfront providing views of classes, activities and information.

Further information

For further information, visit the Victorian Healthy Eating Enterprise page on the department’s website.