Developing healthy eating recipe resources for African Caribbean multicultural communities in Leeds

Start date: June 2021
End date: March 2022
Funder: LeedsACTS!
Value: Contributions towards to the total value of the project were received from Leeds ACTS! for materials as well as support and resources from Leeds Beckett and Leeds University (School of Food Science and Nutrition). The research partner Feel Good Factor, Leeds, also provided time, cooking facilities and input from service-users and staff. Update: May 2022- further funding for this project has now been received from Heart Research UK, with thanks.
Partners and collaborators: Leeds Beckett University Feel Good Factor, Leeds Co-produced culturally appropriate multi-ethnic healthy eating resources | Migrant Health Research Group | Leeds Beckett University
Primary investigator: Dr Sally Moore
External primary investigator: Dr Tanefa Apekey
Co-investigators: Feel Good Factor, Leeds

Developing healthy eating recipe resources for African Caribbean multicultural communities in Leeds | School of Food Science and Nutrition | University of Leeds

The aim of this project is to develop several healthier versions of traditional African Caribbean recipe resources, by working collaboratively with the Third Sector in Leeds.

This project involved a new collaboration between researchers at two Leeds universities, student volunteers, and people from different ethnic communities in Leeds. The basis of the project is the availability of new nutrient content data for popularly consumed traditional African and Caribbean foods and recipes, which was recently generated by Dr Tanefa Apekey, Leeds Beckett University.

The outputs of the project, including healthier recipes, are intended to be shared with communities in Leeds and made available regionally and nationally. Ultimately, this work also aims to support and drive strategies to diversify dietary advice provided by nutritionists and dietitians by creating much-needed multicultural resources.

The work also complements existing new initiatives such as the African Caribbean “Eat Well Guide” recently developed by Leeds City Council and The Diverse Nutrition Initiative. The outputs of the project, including healthier recipes, will be made shared with communities in Leeds and made available regionally and nationally.

Acknowledgements to the following research students and volunteers for their work to develop and analyse the healthier recipe versions: Grace Rawlings, Nadia Murray, Henry Shaw, Lynsey Scott, Sofia Chernego, Layla Ghannam, Adaeze Ezeji, Eleanor McDaid, Carolyn Auma, Henry Shaw, Shuyue Yang, Sofia Chernego, Nadia Murray, Lynsey Scott, Ummu Dasuki and Teng U.

Impact

The outputs of the project, including healthier recipes, are intended to be shared with communities in Leeds and made available regionally and nationally via nutrition and public health organisations.

The impact on student research volunteers is quoted here:

“This opportunity has come as a great experience for me, gaining insight into African Caribbean cuisine and their associated nutritional quality of their traditional foods. Developing my nutritional analytical skills using various online software and manual calculations. Once more, the team has been a delight to work with."

"I have gained invaluable skills over the 10 months that I was working on this project. My confidence in nutritional analysis has grown and my breadth and depth understanding of dietary patterns amongst the African Caribbean community has developed. The opportunity to work directly with service users was a highlight for me”

"This was a great and fun opportunity to work with our team to bring healthier recipes onto the table. My skills in nutrition analysis have greatly improved and I have learned a lot about Caribbean cuisines. I have also got to know what a Cho Cho fruit is and West Indian soup is one of the best soups I have ever had!”

Publications and outputs

Article on Nutrient Composition of Popularly Consumed African and Caribbean Foods in The UK
Co-produced culturally appropriate multi-ethnic healthy eating resources from the Migrant Health Research Group
Moore SG. Apekey T., and Maynard M. (2022) Multi Cultural Foods and healthy eating resources: Co-development works! Invited presentation as part of a Leeds City Council Multicultural resources learning Workshop.(Presentation).