To improve food quality in nursing homes, in 2019 the federal government gave a grant from a dementia fund totalling almost $600,000 to the Maggie Beer Foundation to produce a series of online training videos for chefs and cooks in the sector.
Last month, the foundation released the online training videos, which many in the industry believed would be available free of charge.
Instead, 11 modules cost about $480 – or $44 per half-hour video. It isn't just the big age care industry kitchens that need a dietician's shakeup but also the smaller facilities, but most importantly these videos would be of major benefit to the thousands of home carers providing meals across the country. The vision of the Maggie Beer Foundation is "to ensure that all residents in aged care have access to fresh, wholesome, seasonal food, abundant with flavour. To achieve this, we need to engage with and educate cooks and chefs, as well as those decision makers, in the aged care sector.
"We know there are some amazing examples of great food in aged care, but there are so many others where there is a misconception that aged care food budgets prevent flavoursome, seasonal food being prepared. The Foundation Masterclass programs are designed to challenge this thinking and to share best practice."
“When the training is taken back into aged care homes, we have seen dramatic changes in the engagement of staff and the wellbeing of the residents. The creation of an online program will enable all chefs and cooks to gain access to the training.” – Maggie Beer
But it turns out that if you want to learn Maggie's secrets to preparing fresh, wholesome, seasonal food, abundant with flavour to our elderly to ensure their nutritional needs are met then you will have to fork out $480 to access the videos she and her team received $600,000 to make.
It appears that Altura Learning worked with the Maggie Beer Foundation to create this series of online training modules with Maggie Beer saying "so that all cooks and chefs in every aged care home across Australia can access essential training with convenience".
It now appears that Altura Learning own the videos.
Maybe Maggie needs to update her website and say "so that all cooks and chefs in every aged care home across Australia can access essential training with convenience if they fork out $480".
