Tuk-tuk kitchen delivering healthy eating classes to children across Edinburgh

An electric tuk-tuk teaching communities how to make healthy meals has launched in Edinburgh.

‘The strawberry’ was unveiled at St Mary’s Primary School in Leith with local legend celebrity chef Tony Singh MBE at the wheel.

Run by the Edinburgh Community Food (ECF) project, it serves as a mobile educational initiative to teach communities about nutrition by making healthy cooking fun and accessible and taking it into the heart of the community.

Tony told STV News: “This is an amazing project to get people connected to food again. There are lots of challenges with food shortages, food banks, the parents might not have time and use processed and frozen ingredients.

“This is being taken to schools, parks and community centres. It allows children to access raw ingredients, to feel it, hold and smell fresh food.

“It gets them engaged while they are young on a simple level. These things stay with you.”

Brenda Black, CEO of Edinburgh Community Food, said: “We are bringing food, health, and wellbeing to communities across the City of Edinburgh. This quirky Tuk-tuk is the perfect vehicle for us to take education right to the heart of the community in a way that is fun.

“I want everyone to know that when you see the strawberry in your community, something exciting is happening with food.”

Healthy eating tuk-tuk launches in Edinburgh STV News

The tuk-tuk tells the story of food, from growing and cooking to the social joy of sharing a meal, and is in itself an educational tool.

It will display fresh fruit and vegetables and offer ‘take and make’ menus for cooking healthy meals at home.

The children of Edinburgh are being invited to enter a naming competition for the tuk-tuk. The new name, along with that of the winner and their school, will be featured in the design.

With each entry costing £1, the competition is not only a chance for children to come up with a creative name but also a way to support Edinburgh Community Food’s charitable initiatives.

Jim Johnstone, Head of Communities and Social Impact at Morrison Construction, who sponsored the project, said: “It has been a privilege to support Edinburgh Community Food’s educational initiative to literally drive healthy and sustainable approaches to food, right to the heart of the community.”