Leading groceries retailer Ocado and Beano Studios have launched a special Food Waste Cookbook featuring a range of Beano comic characters, created to help families make their food go further, and take children and parents on a fun, food-fuelled journey through the joy of cooking.
Fronted by adventurer Ben Fogle, the Cookbook – also available as a free digital download – begins with a comic strip showing Ben as Bananaman’s sidekick, and sees him bump into the likes of Dennis, Gnasher and their Beanotown friends.
The book puts a twist on family-friendly recipes inspired by classic comic characters from the weekly comic, including “Nearly Gone-offee Pie”, “Bangers & Gnash” and “Jammy Dodger French Toast”.
Each recipe is quick and simple to make and uses some of the most commonly wasted household foods, such as bananas and bread, in order to help these food shop essentials last longer and stretch further.
The cookbook launches as new research highlights that over half of parents (56%) say they’ve never had a conversation with their children about food waste, and over one third (37%) of children say they’d like to cook more with their family at home. The Ocado x Beano Food Waste Cookbook aims to open up these important discussions, whilst encouraging parents and children to have fun together in the kitchen.
“As an avid Beano reader as a child, it’s fantastic to now be part of a real Beano comic strip,” says Ben Fogle, “as well as its first ever cookbook with Ocado. Throughout the process of being Beano-fied and the recipe and comic creation, I’ve had lots of conversations with my own children about how we can make the most of fresh ingredients so that groceries last longer, and have fun in the kitchen in the process.”
Rachel Cox-Reynolds, director of Sustainability at Ocado Retail added: “In launching the cookbook with Beano, Dennis and his friends are on hand to offer playful ideas to help families get the most out of their groceries, as often food has a lot more life left in it than you think. By bringing a burst of fun and imagination, we hope children and parents will get stuck into learning more whilst having lots of fun at mealtimes.”
Mike Stirling, Beano’s Director of Mischief said: “Dennis, Bananaman and their friends have come up with fresh recipes to encourage less food waste and more great food taste. Beano readers and fans can now enjoy the ‘Jammy Dodger French Toast’, the ‘Nearly Gone-offee Pie’ or the other recipes for the whole family, tried and tested in Beanotown.”
In an ongoing effort to help children feel informed when it comes to their cooking and food consumption at home, Ocado and Beano have also created a series of bespoke Beano for Schools lesson plans for pupils in KS1 and KS2.
• A digital version of the The Ocado x Beano Food Waste Cookbook can be downloaded here (PDF Link)
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Other Worlds
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