South London social enterprise launches cooking ebook to celebrate Black History Month

Healthy Living Platform, a social enterprise based in London’s Brixton, has released an ebook in celebration of African, Caribbean, and Afro-Latin cooking.

Photo by Sujeeth Potla on Unsplash

The Healthy Living Platform is a social enterprise based in Brixton that is committed to enhancing the health and wellbeing of its entire community. The organisation encourages healthy and sustainable lifestyles by giving “practical training, education, information and support on topics such as nutrition, cooking, food growing, health and wellbeing.” It also strives to develop community programmes and activities that empower local people and are self-sustaining.

The Healthy Living Platform envisions thriving neighbourhoods, full of people “who are helping one another access everything they need to live happy, healthy lives.” They believe that communities can become less dependent on big corporations by learning from one another and trading skills, prioritising the communal good over individualism.

Based in Southwyck Community Centre, their Healthy Living Kitchen, regularly cooks and delivers hot meals to families in the local area who have recently had babies, those in the community who are struggling to access food, and young people who benefit from free school meals. They operate a zero waste policy, and enable families to access filling food and a healthy lifestyle, regardless of time or financial restraints. The social enterprise is currently partnering with Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP) to pack and deliver food parcels for residents who are shielding and isolating due to Covid-19.

Membership is completely free and open to all families with children under 4-years-old who live, work or play in Coldharbour, Stockwell, Tulse Hill, and Vassall. Every week, members are given a free bag of fruit and vegetables, and also receive access training. This means that members can lead activities in their communities themselves, as well as attending the variety of (currently online) sessions run by the Healthy Living Platform team. 

Pre-Covid-19, the Healthy Living Platform hosted regular in-person sessions and one-off events, becoming a hub for the community and an inclusive place to socialise. It gave families the opportunity to be more active in their local environment and, according to LEAP, families reported reduced isolation after engaging with the organisation. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, families are no longer able to share a meal face-to-face. However, the Healthy Living Platform has recently released an ebook to commemorate Black History Month, and this cookbook offers a new way of communal eating, allowing community members to taste the same dishes from their different homes.

In October 2020, during England’s second lockdown, the Healthy Living Platform invited its members to share their favourite dishes during weekly live online cookalongs. In response to this, for the entire month of October, the Healthy Living Kitchen cooked a variety of recipes from African, Caribbean, and Afro-Latin cuisines for their hot meals delivery service. The Healthy Living Platform ebook is a result of this, and contains nutritious recipes, both from the Healthy Living Kitchen repertoire, and members themselves.

The ebook consists of 12 recipes, all of which are vegan-friendly and suitable for children. These recipes range from Chakalaka, a home-style Zimbabwean dish, to classic Jamaican recipes, such as ‘Shemeika’s callaloo and hard food’. As well as the expected preparation instructions, the recipes are accompanied by a brief background story, which explains the origins of the particular dish and its connection to the Healthy Living Platform community, and coloured photographs that work as visual aids.

Mandy Mazilah, a community cook at Healthy Living Platform, helped to create the ebook. She explained to Pi Media that “so many delicious meals were cooked or shared and we wanted to put them all together to share with our community.” Mandy hopes that “everyone who downloads the ebook finds a new favourite recipe.” Hers is the plantain burgers, which she has made at home for her children “on more than one occasion.”

The Healthy Living Platform Black History Month ebook showcases Black cooking and culture, and is the product of a community who are actively striving to maintain strength and connection during the increased emotional, financial and physical hardships that have occurred due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The ebook can be found here on the Healthy Living Platform website, and is available as a free download here. However, the Healthy Living Platform asks for a £5 donation, if readers can afford it.

To find out more about the Healthy Living Platform or to volunteer, see below:

Website: http://healthylivingplatform.org/volunteer-with-us
Instagram: @living_platform
Facebook: The Healthy Living Platform

Twitter: @LivingPlatform
YouTube: Healthy Living Platform