Key words: Cooking confidence, Fruit and vegetables, Healthy eating Short title: Ministry of Food cooking program evaluation

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of the Ministry of Food (MoF) cooking programme on self-reported food consumption and confidence within cooking. Design: A quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the MoF 8 week cooking course, using a pre-test/post-test study. Pre, post and 6 month follow-up quantitative outcomes were measured using self-administered questionnaires to record number of portions of fruit and vegetables (F&V) consumed per day, number of snacks consumed per day, and participants’ cooking confidence levels (highest score of 5). Qualitative evaluations were undertaken using structured telephone interviews. Setting: Leeds Kirkgate market, Ministry of Food Centre. Subjects: 795 adults (43% male) on MoF courses from 2010-2014. 462 completed questionnaires at all three time points. Findings: Six months after the course self-reported F&V intake had significantly increased from the start by 1.5 (95%CI 1.3, 1.6, p<0.001) portions per day to 4.1 (95%CI 4.0, 4.3). The number of snacks reported significantly decreased over the same period by -0.9 (CI: -1.0, -0.8, p<0.001) snacks per day. Cooking confidence increased over the same period by 1.7 (95%CI 1.6, 1.9, p<0.001) to 4.4 (CI 4.4 4.5). Age and disability, but not deprivation or ethnicity were associated with changes in self-reported F&V intake and cooking confidence scores at six months; and gender with the latter outcome. Qualitative results supported quantitative findings and revealed specific beneficial gains in cooking skill/preparation, nutritional awareness, food purchasing and other social benefits. Conclusions: MoF community based cooking interventions can have significant positive effects on dietary behaviour, food choice and cooking confidence.