Sodexo, Insead partner Montfort Care to help seniors eat healthier meals
[SINGAPORE] Armed with a rice cooker and ingredients such as chicken and chopped shiitake mushrooms, a chef from Sodexo conducted a live cooking demonstration for about 60 seniors at Goodlife Studio (Bukit Purmei), an active ageing centre by Montfort Care, on Tuesday (Apr 29).
Chef Iskandar Zulkarnain, who is also an account manager at Sodexo Singapore, was a volunteer at the pilot initiative of Sodexo and Insead's community programme, SG60: Doing Good Through Food.
The programme aims to teach seniors how to make healthy meals, and meal kits using healthier ingredients were provided.
Abel Ariza, managing director at Sodexo Singapore and Malaysia, said: 'One of the main reasons why we wanted to put this initiative together is because we wanted to do something that stays over time and impacts seniors positively. We thought about not just meal delivering – which is what we normally do – but also helping to upskill the ageing population through a cooking class. Hopefully, they can take some of the learnings back home.'
Both Sodexo and Insead collectively delivered more than 3,600 meal kits last year to marginalised communities.
Ariza stressed the importance of using healthier options that impact seniors' health positively.
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Soy chicken rice was chosen because it is a 'staple' in Singapore, he added, and it is 'relatively easy to cook in a setup like this', making it easier for seniors to pick up this skill.
Liew Zi Qi, senior programme executive at Goodlife Studio (Bukit Purmei), Montfort Care, said: 'Learning healthy cooking is very important, so that they will be aware of their own condition to (accordingly) match the correct diet.'
Supporting seniors' independent living
James Middleditch, senior director of operations and campus services at Insead, said this initiative will enable seniors to live more independently. More seniors now live alone – a Ministry of Health report stated that the number grew from 58,000 in 2018 to 79,000 in 2022, and this figure is expected to continue rising.
'Singapore has an ageing population, but also a low fertility rate, so now we're getting this imbalance. You're going to have smaller families taking care of seniors, so more and more seniors will be obliged to live independently. Supporting them in this journey – giving them knowledge and skills – will enable them to live a much more fulfilled... life,' he noted.
Liew added that there has been an increased focus on preventive healthcare, especially in Singapore's current ageing society.
'At an early stage, it's important to share with seniors how to keep up a good and healthy lifestyle. At this active ageing centre, we encourage them to live healthily and stay active,' she said.
These participatory sessions with Sodexo chefs also help to tackle social isolation – another issue that seniors living alone face. Sodexo and Insead plan to roll out more events to benefit the community throughout the year.
SG60: Doing Good Through Food builds on Sodexo and Insead's past community initiatives, which included a waste management programme and farm-to-table demonstrations.
It is also part of Montfort Care's Good Makan! initiative, aimed at empowering seniors through food, confidence-building and social connection.
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