A qualitative evaluation of community-based cooking classes in Northeast Scotland

This paper reports a qualitative study of Now You're Cooking (NYC), a health promotions cooking initiative in Northeast Scotland, providing cooking classes in lower social class areas. This is a first attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of NYC since its start in the mid-1990s. This study consisted of six semi-structured interviews with NYC participants. The analysis indicated that those participants not only gained cooking skills but also had the opportunity to socialise, and learned other skills such as food hygiene and budgeting. A number of issues arose concerning the ability of low-income groups to change their diet and use the cooking and budgeting skills learned to a maximum, particularly in relation to access to healthier food. As part of the wider evaluation of NYC, further interviews with non- participants are recommended.