Older men are gaining confidence in the kitchen and building social connections through a new community program.
Meals 4 Mates, an initiative by The Community Place, offers free six-week cooking and nutrition classes for men aged 50 and over in partnership with Stafford and Districts Meals on Wheels, with sessions planned for July and September.
According to Rebecca Hainsworth from The Community Place, the program was inspired by a similar concept on the Gold Coast.
“When we started speaking to various people and groups, we found that there were men whose wives had died or were incapacitated, and they suddenly had the responsibility for meal preparation thrust upon them without any support,” Rebecca said.
While launching a new initiative can be challenging, Rebecca said support from Health and Wellbeing Queensland made it possible to offer the program at no cost to participants.
Skills, Nutrition and Social Connection
Each weekly session lasts two hours and involves preparing a main meal and dessert, and includes a conversation on different parts of nutrition and how it changes as people age.
Recipes include meals that can be cooked in bulk and stored, protein-rich pancakes made with cottage cheese, as well as soups and muffins.
“We will be cooking stir-fry and focusing on knife skills,” Rebecca said. “We will be cooking a whole meal using a muffin pan to help with portion control and talking about kitchen hygiene and food safety. Everyone needs a failsafe cake recipe, so we will be cooking an ‘impossible’ coconut pie and talking about ways to season food that doesn’t rely on salt or sugar.
“We will be talking a lot about how we can use food as preventative medicine and how diet can help control conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.”
Another aim of the program is to address social isolation and mental health challenges faced by men in later life.
“There is a significant body of research showing that moving into retirement is a high-risk period for a decline in men’s mental health and that the risk of suicide in men increases two to 10 years after retirement as they struggle to find friendships and activities that provide the same sense of camaraderie and purpose as their work did,” Rebecca said. “The shared activity of preparing a meal, talking about their health in general terms, provides an opportunity for connection that many activities take a lot longer to establish.”
Classes are limited to 10 participants. Those interested can register online here or call 3857 1152.
The Community Place will host another series of cooking classes in August, open to the broader community, in partnership with OzHarvest.
Meals 4 Mates Cooking & Nutrition Sessions
- 22 July – 26 August, 16 September – 21 October, 11.30am-1.30pm
- The Community Place
- 33 Teevan Street, Stafford
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