A WOMAN that founded a zero-food-waste non-profit has adapted her work to keep supporting the vulnerable in a town through isolation recipes.

Recipes, using a few ingredients as possible that are easy to find or in season, are published in the Food For Thoughts group on Facebook, named after the organisation itself, by founder Louise Graham.

Food for Thought, which began in late 2017, uses food that would otherwise be thrown away by supermarkets to cook healthy meals and supports people in learning to cook and trying new things, all while on a budget.

The Northern Echo:

Ms Graham, who founded the organisation after seeing the extent of Darlington's inequality, believes cooking well on less has never been more important, as families adapt to lower incomes due to the government’s furlough scheme whereby people unable to work due to Covid-19 will have 80 per cent of their wages covered.

The Northern Echo:

The mum said: “Times are becoming very hard for a lot of people who are out of work or experiencing lower incomes.

“Because of this, they may not know what to cook, at a time where eating healthy and building up our immune systems have never been so important.

“Coronavirus came like a bus. We’re a small volunteer group, no one gets paid because we wanted to build a community where we are all equal.

“The challenge was immense to keep going but people have had to step back as others in their family are shielded - but we have not stopped all of our contact. We’re now using social media as a platform to share and learn from each other.”

Part of this is Ms Graham’s lockdown recipes, of which there are currently 13. This includes the 'perfect poached egg' and 'easy-peasy mushroom, spinach and feta parcels'.

The eating well during lockdown recipes embody Food for Thought's ethos; zero waste and healthy living.

Ms Graham, who comes up with the ideas, added: "We focus on using a small amount of ingredients to show people how far they can go and make a really nice meal for the whole family. It is an opportunity to try new things and learn."

The mum set up Food for Thought after seeing a "huge problem with food waste and inequality and poverty" in Darlington.

"People were not able to access decent means or possibly cook for themselves as much as they wanted," she said.

"Using food that we intercepted from supermarkets it was something that worked really well.

"I’m just a mum. I cook regularly for my family. We have a family of vegetarians and meat eaters, and I tried veganism too.

"If you have a passion it can really motivate you to share it with others. Everyone loves getting involved and rolling their sleeves up. There’s a social element of getting to talk to each other, and it is so important to look out for each other in our town."

The organisation welcomes everyone in Darlington, hoping to improve the lives all residents through messages of equality.

Ms Graham also hopes the grassroots response to Covid-19 will surpass the virus.

Ms Graham finalised: "We just hope this will make people think and make the town a better place. Life is so challenging with coronavirus but it is through this we see human qualities that will get us through the crisis."

For more information, email fftdarlo@gmail.com or post on the Facebook group.