Celebrity chef launches city market project to promote healthy eating

His Ministry of Food will open at the Leeds Kirkgate Market in a partnership between NHS Leeds and Leeds City Council.

The innovative project is the third in Britain following ventures in Bradford and Rotherham, but is the first in a market.

Yesterday Oliver was in the city to meet staff ahead of the opening on Friday, June 25.

He said: "It's fantastic that Yorkshire is pioneering change and I feel sure that Leeds's Ministry of Food will be as important and popular as the ministries in Rotherham and Bradford.

"Teaching children and adults how to cook nutritious, easy, affordable and delicious meals for themselves and their families should be a high priority for every city council in Britain and it's great to see Leeds investing in its future."

Ten-week cookery courses will be delivered in a specially developed kitchen by staff trained by Oliver's team in Leeds. They will use a range of ingredients largely sourced from the market which will ensure people on the course can find everything they need to replicate what they have learned at home.

The chief executive of NHS Leeds, John Lawlor, said: "The Ministry of Food has already produced a number of success stories around Yorkshire and I am confident that it will be the same in Leeds."

The city council executive board member for development and regeneration, Richard Lewis, said: "One of the problems about a healthy diet is that is it often seen as more expensive – but this certainly isn't true at the market.

"Nowhere in Leeds offers the value and variety of fresh food like the market, so it's great these courses are running here."