An exciting new concept in helping residents with anything and everything related to food launches this week in the city with the first stage of the ground-breaking new Pocket to Plate.

Given the challenging times over the last few years with the pandemic and the cost of living crisis, the council wants to ensure a sustainable approach to good food for everyone in the city for years to come.

The new approach will cover anything and everything to do with food from helping people get food savvy by developing cooking skills in person and online, accessing good quality, but reasonably priced food and even growing their own.

With financial challenges increasing for councils, City of Wolverhampton Council wants to ensure its residents can still eat well and have the knowledge and skills to avoid food insecurity even in the toughest of times.

The council cannot achieve this alone and needs the help and commitment of a wide network of partners across the city who already contribute to supporting people to eat well in a wide variety of ways.

Pocket to Plate got underway with an event for all partners, where the council shared its vision and gave organisations the chance to sign up to a new Food Alliance to deliver the approach. 

The launch event at the Student Union’s Luna Lounge heard from a wide range of partners including, Hope Community Project, Waste Not Wolves, More than a Meal and WV10 Consortium.

There was also a video showing residents talking about how community chefs and cooking sessions funded by the council at WV10 have already started to transform their lives, beyond the initial food sessions.

Leader of the council, Councillor Stephen Simkins spoke of the power of food to affect people’s lives way beyond basic nutrition.

‘To me food is love, love goes into making food and you share it with those you love and care about.

‘It has the power to break down divides, brings us all closer together and can even tackle some of society’s woes like loneliness. When I was a child, I learned to cook from my nan and my mother and people would go round to each other’s homes for food, that connection has been lost in many areas. Food offers ways to reconnect society.

‘I’m proud of the way we’ve helped people through difficult times in Wolverhampton and made a real difference to people’s lives.

‘Pocket to Plate will continue this approach and go beyond it to deliver radical new projects such as online cooking content to help bring communities together and get food savvy.’

The city will get a first look at what getting food savvy with Pocket to Plate will look like this week when the cooking project gets underway.

Wulfrunian TikTok cooking sensation and Sunday Times bestselling author Mitch Lane (@mealsbymitch) has joined forces with community chefs from WV10 Prince and Simon to create recipes and cooking tips every week for followers on youtube, instagram and tiktok.

People can follow now on those platforms @pocketoplate and watch out for more news on the council’s socials before the first Pocket to Plate video and recipes go live tomorrow (Thursday, November 21).

Over the coming weeks there will be advice on developing good basic food skills, how to do set pieces like a decent ‘fakeaway’ and themed recipes to help make the most of seasonal food events.

We want local people to get involved by challenging the chefs and suggesting what they want them to cover each week.

Find out more about Pocket to Plate and wider support on the council’s dedicated cost of living pages www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/cost-of-living-support.

Here’s a taste of the launch and what Pocket to Plate is all about https://youtu.be/ZLBZ_SnR8v8