JAMIE Oliver’s home cooking program currently based in Mossman - Jamie’s Ministry of Food - is celebrating NAIDOC week in style.

NAIDOC week, which stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee, was created to increase awareness in the community of the treatment and status of indigenous Australians and runs from July 10-15.

The celebrity chef’s team at Mossman Gorge has released a video illustrating the program’s ethos and commitment to working collaboratively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The mobile kitchen has been teaching Mossman Aboriginal people to cook in partnership with the local Aboriginal community, Apunipima Cape York Health Council and Mossman Gorge’s governing body, Bamanga Bubu Ngadimunku (BBN).

Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia CEO, Elise Bennetts, said collaborating with the Mossman Gorge community in the lad up to NAIDOC week had been ‘an honour’.

“While our goal is to educate all Australians about the benefits of cooking fresh food from scratch, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are hardest hit by the impact of diet related disease,” Bennetts said.

“We look forward to expanding our Indigenous program across the country and to our continued work with the government to address the gap in health and life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and non-Indigenous Australians.”

The release of the video follows the announcement of Queensland Health’s new 10-year strategy, which outlines the aim to increase life expectancy of Aboriginal males by 4.8 years and females by 5.1 years by 2026.

Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services, Cameron Dick, said it was great to see Jamie’s Ministry of Food deliver the mobile kitchen program to the Mossman community.

“This program is all about getting everyone cooking again by teaching them the basics; how to cook and how to enjoy food in a way that benefits them and their families,” he said.

“In March this year, our government committed $1.34 million to continue this valuable program in Queensland, with a key focus of that funding being to grow the program’s reach to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, including those in Mossman.

“We wanted to ensure groups across Queensland who really need some additional support are given the opportunity to take part in this great program and learn the right skills and practical tips to help them achieve better health.”