About Us
Our Mission.
Our mission is to promote healthy eating and support the elderly and vulnerable in Greater Dartmoor and Devon communities.
We inspire healthy eating through community-based education and the provision of evidence-based, practical nutrition information.
We are...
For Community, Not For Profit
Dartmoor Community Kitchen Hub is a local, not-for-profit company based in Ashburton, Devon. We offer freshly cooked, nutritious meals for the elderly and vulnerable residents in our communities, 7 days a week.
A Local Team
Our team is made up of local chefs, volunteers and experienced business people with a passion for healthy eating and supporting the elderly and vulnerable residents in our communities.
Passionate About Great Food
We only work with quality Dartmoor businesses who supply us with fresh Devon ingredients from local sustainable sources.
A Registered Social Enterprise
We are based in Bovey Tracey In the town centre where our offices, kitchen and membership cafe are open Monday to Friday 10am to 1.30pm.
Stella West-Harling M.B.E
FOUNDER & C.E.O
Experience & Passion
For the past 10 years Stella has been developing food strategies for her beloved Dartmoor and is probably best known for her work as founder of the Ashburton Cookery School and the award winning Home Farm Cafe at Parke National Trust Estate.
In 2014 Stella was awarded the MBE for her contribution to tourism & hospitality in the South West.
Our Priorities...
Healthy eating for all
Healthy eating can be defined as consuming foods and drinks in a way that supports an individual’s nutritional needs, appetite, personal tastes, culture and lifestyle. It also means having a healthy relationship with food, and enjoying food for nourishment as well as pleasure, and appreciating the social and cultural role of food.
Following a healthy and balanced diet supports optimal physical and mental health, can prevent weight gain, and reduce the risk of developing some chronic diseases such as type 2, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and some cancers.
The Dartmoor Community Kitchen Hub promotes healthy eating in line with the UK Dietary Guidelines and Healthy Eating advice available in GP Surgeries. We do this by promoting consumption of a variety of minimally processed foods from the five core food groups every day, mostly plant-based foods, and limiting excess consumption of foods and drinks that are high in added saturated fat, salt and sugar.
Supportive food environments
Supportive food environments are those that make healthy food and drink choices the easy choices in the places where we live, learn, work and play. In a supportive food environment healthy food and drinks are readily available, affordable and appealing.
Supportive food environments make changes at a population level to produce healthier behaviours at an individual level. They address external factors that influence our food choices, such as what foods and drinks are available, pricing, marketing, policies, and social ‘norms’.
Dartmoor Community Kitchen Hub and Dartmoor Food & Drink will work with our communities, organisations, governments and food industry to create supportive food environments and to support people to make use of these environments.
Food literacy for all
Food literacy means having the knowledge, skills and capacity to source, prepare and cook food in a sustainable manner to promote a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
Food literacy is also about individuals understanding the role that food plays in communities and cultures. Food knowledge and skills are influenced by our upbringing, culture, education, and the information we obtain from media, marketing and the internet.
Our capacity to source and prepare food is also affected by physical factors, such as our access to healthy food and food preparation facilities. We work to improve food literacy and empower individuals to make informed and appropriate food and drink choices.
We aim to develop skills in our vulnerable community members, and create a meaningful, local seasonal, sustainable and healthy food initiative (meals on wheels and care home nutritional programme within the above parameters) for our elderly and vulnerable living in Greater Dartmoor and Devon