Marcus Rashford launches budget cooking campaign for disadvantaged families

The Full Time campaign sees the footballer link up with Michelin starred chef Tom Kerridge to launched free recipes and online video lessons each week on Instagram.

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Supermarkets, schools and food banks are also being encouraged to share recipes through the initiative.

Rashford said: “Whilst we work on finding a long-term sustainable answer to ending child food poverty in the UK, I want to use what is available to me to equip children with a vital life skill.”

He also hopes the campaign will encourage parents and children to cook together and spend time as a family “that isn’t restricted by the cost of a day trip and transport getting there”.

It's here! 52 easy to follow recipes posted every Sunday on our official #FullTimeMeals instagram page. Offering the skills and confidence to cook proper food and have some fun doing it. Look out for news as to how each supermarket is supporting the project on social and instore. pic.twitter.com/C7bXd86Yrh

— Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) April 22, 2021

Meanwhile, Kerridge says the aim is to “give children and families the skills and confidence to cook proper food in their own kitchens, using the equipment available to them”.

“I have created 52 pocket friendly and seriously tasty recipes that the whole family can cook,” he said.

“These recipes are simple and easy to follow with emphasis on limited equipment and inclusion of store cupboard goods with a longer shelf life. Every Sunday morning, we will launch a new cook-along video on our Instagram page."

This is the latest initiative around food poverty that Rashford has been involved in amid the Covid-19 pandemic. This included a high-profile campaign to improve access to food and activities during school holidays for vulnerable families.

Last month a coalition of charities, academics and youth organisations launched the Holiday Activities and Food Alliance to tackle social inequalities, inactivity and food poverty.

Among those backing the move is food poverty charity Cheshire Food Hub, which said it was “thrilled” to support the new project by Rashford and Kerridge.

.@MarcusRashford and @ChefTomKerridge working together to #endchildfoodpoverty - this can only be incredible. https://t.co/lL3OW1FSXH #FullTimeMeals 👀 https://t.co/i0pkNdhMDT

— Berkshire Community Foundation (@berkshirecf) April 19, 2021

Elsewhere, Berkshire Community Foundation has described the initiative as “incredible”.

These two are calling Full Time on child food poverty and we’re thrilled to be supporting such an amazing campaign.

Follow ‘Full Time Meals’ on Instagram and Facebook to keep up to date with what’s coming.@MarcusRashford @ChefTomKerridge #marcusrashford #tomkerridge pic.twitter.com/vzPY8UWWJp

— CheshireFoodHub (@cheshire_hub) April 19, 2021