Published: Wednesday, 25th February 2026
The Council’s popular Food For Thought programme successfully launched its new Food For Thought Academy programme with a series of engaging sessions at Greenpark Academy.
The Food For Thought Academy launched on 15 January to the first cohort of students and has been holding weekly workshops aimed at equipping these year five students with essential cooking skills and promoting healthier eating habits.
These sessions are being run by our Lily service with funding from the King’s Lynn & West Norfolk Health Wellbeing Partnership. And we are excited to hear that it has been well received by the school and parents have been keen to let their children attend this after-school club.
These interactive sessions focus on nutrition education, cost-effective meal preparation, and demonstrating how simple it is to create delicious, homemade meals. Jen from Norma’s Kitchen has been delivering live cooking demonstrations each week, sharing practical tips on preparing healthy and tasty dishes without breaking the bank. The programme ran for five weeks, with students receiving recipe cards and ingredients to encourage them to try these new meals at home.
The first cohort of 10 students concluded just before half term with a special mini awards ceremony, celebrating the students’ participation and achievements with a personalised wooden spoon and certificate. The second cohort of selected Greenpark student starts this week and we already have Howard Junior School lined up to host the Food for Thought Academy in the coming months.
Cllr Jo Rust, Cabinet Member for People and Communities, commented:
“I know how much we love coming together over food, and our youngsters are no different. The Food For Thought Academy will offer essential cooking skills but also a community aspect of food. I can well imagine these 9 and 10 year olds going home and inspiring their parents and carers to take up new dishes. My own grandchildren love to do cookery whenever they can. Cooking from scratch and understanding where food comes from will really help them now and in the future. Jen and the Lily team who deliver this programme have a wealth of experience and bring to life the joy of food that is healthy and delicious. I’m excited that other schools are also taking it up and I really look forward to hearing about the success of future cohorts’. I’ll eat my hat if the academy doesn’t produce a Galton Blackiston in the future. But I’d prefer a fruit cobbler!”
