ABOUT

Chef It Up TT is a social campaign that brings people together to share ideas and inspire each other to make healthy eating more appealing, affordable, stress-free and fun!

We conducted an in-depth 6-month study of 100+ incredible Trinbagonians from all walks of life. We learnt about their frustrations, challenges and also their clever solutions.

Chef It Up TT was born.

Our research was part of the University College London (UCL) and European Research Council (ERC), Anthropology of Smartphones and Smart Ageing Project. Dr Sheba Mohammid and Prof Daniel Miller led the work in Trinidad and Tobago to better understand the practices surrounding physical and mental well-being and digital media. We will be publishing more on these complex issues and applaud the local groups who are working hard to tackle many of them.

Some findings particularly sounded a call to action to us. There was a common complaint that eating healthy meant it must be expensive, inconvenient or tasteless. Modern diets were often shifting away from adequate intake of vegetables. While medical experts were emphasizing their concern over the effects of excessive salt consumption on cardiovascular disease in T&T, there was still a general lack of awareness and confusion on the ground around salt.

At the same time, people were clamouring for online spaces for community building, mental well-being and outlets for stress release, especially in the face of the Covid19 pandemic.

Our participants were full of ideas, solutions and strategies and the innovativeness and skills of Trinbagonians continued to shine.

Chef It Up TT was created with all this in mind.

Our campaign aims to showcase the know-how and ingenuity of Trinbagonians and motivate people to eat healthier and have fun while releasing stress. The Chef It Up TT cooking competition harnesses the tools of social media and the brilliance of the Trinbagonian people to spotlight healthy cooking at its best!

We are a multi-disciplinary team made up of local Trinbagonians with expertise in the fields of anthropology, nutrition, medicine, mental health, creativity, design, digital ethnography, tech, communication, leadership and more. Our team is passionate about collaborating from the ground up to try to make a positive impact. We are grateful for the outpouring of support from Trinbagonians and the generosity of locally-run organizations.

And we need your help!

Enter the Chef It Up TT competition

Join the conversation on our social media [Facebook | Instagram]
Spread the word...

and Stay Tuned for our upcoming App.

Happy and Healthy Eating!
From the Chef It Up TT Team
xoxo