JAMIE Oliver’s Ministry of Food van is coming to Mossman in a huge triumph for the Douglas Shire.

The celebrity chef’s unique brand of food education will hit the Mossman Gorge from June 13, marking the mobile kitchen's second visit to an indigenous community.

The world famous food initiative will partner with the Bamanga Bubu Ngadimunka Inc, the custodians of the Mossman Gorge community, along with the Apunipima Cape York Health Council (ACYHC) and The Good Foundation.

Oliver’s culinary classroom on wheels will run for five-weeks and deliver hands-on cooking programs to the local community in an effort to enhance confidence among locals to improve their diet through healthy, affordable and tasty cooking.

“There’s been a lot of consultation that has taken place to enable us to host the program,” ACYHC nutritionist Carny Thompson told SBS.

“It’s such a great opportunity for the area and pretty exciting to have a mobile kitchen come to town.”

Thompson’s nutrition team played a leading role in getting Jamie’s Ministry of Food to Mossman Gorge.

The unmistakable mobile kitchen is more than 15m long and will be choc full of cheap ‘Jamie-style’ cooking lessons, recipes and tips to help Douglas Shire residents make easy nutritional food on a budget.

It’s believed community-wide consultation and Aboriginal elder input will see the cooking classes modified to respect local traditions.

“We are approaching the community from a place of great respect, as well as respect for the traditional owners of the land and traditional food customs of sharing and ritual,” Bree Kennedy, food trainer for Jamie’s Ministry of Food, said recently to SBS.

“The local community has told us they do a lot of batch cooking to provide food for, sometimes for eight people. So we want to make sure our recipes are adaptable to that situation.

“The food trainers and myself also want to cook food that is traditional for local participants. By participating in these classes, people will gain confidence in the kitchen to make meals from scratch."

Jamie Oliver has pioneered this concept around the globe, with his mobile food van a huge success in the Indigenous Queensland community of Cherbourg last year.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

• There are around 180 spots available for Mossman Gorge locals aged 12 and above.
  
  
• The course will be run by food trainers and volunteers.
  
  
• Locals can either drop in for a single class at $2 each or participate in the whole five-week program, attending one class once a week for a subsidised amount of $10.
  
  
• The mobile kitchen will be located on Mossman Gorge Road, Mossman Gorge.

 For more information visit www.thegoodfoundation.com.au/ministry-of-food.