Celebrity cook, entrepreneur, restaurateur, author, national treasure. Maggie Beer could be called a lot of things, but ‘idle’ is certainly not one of them. Her latest project is perhaps the most challenging yet – Beer has made it her mission to dramatically improve the food experiences for older Australians living in aged-care facilities. Her vision? To “make every mouthful count”. And for a new documentary special, she and her team attempted to completely transform one aged-care facility within just four short months.

Back in 2014, Beer established the Maggie Beer Foundation, which provides online skills-based training for aged care cooks, chefs and managers. Then, last year, Beer stood with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Minister for Aged Care as they officially launched the Improving Food in Aged Care through Education and Training program.

This is a free education and training program, run through the Maggie Beer Foundation, available to cooks, chefs and food service staff working in aged care services.

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The aim is to empower these people to provide more nutritious and enjoyable meals and more positive dining experiences to aged-care residents. For Beer, this had been a long time coming.

“It began back in 2010 when I was made Senior Australian of the Year,” Beer recently told delicious. “One of my speaking requests was to 1000 aged-care CEOs at their annual conference. I did a lot of research, to do a keynote speech. And when your world is food, and you find things that are just not acceptable? Even though you also find really good things, the fact is that there is so much that is not acceptable. It became a drive; I had to find ways of changing it.”

Beer discovered that there was no specialised training available for cooks and chefs working in aged care. Further compounding the problem were the budgetary constraints that so many of these facilities face.

 

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“There are some brilliant places, but there are many more that aren’t,” Beer says. “And with the small budgets, the lack of training – there isn’t even a standard of needing a Certificate III for a cook. And it’s specialised! These are residents with complex needs. There’s so much [the cooks] have to know, and they’re not given a lot of support, or respect, or salary. And yet, they are the ones that can make the most difference to every resident in their care, every day of their lives.”

So, can a dedicated team make a genuine difference to an aged-care facility in just four months?

“It [was] a huge responsibility, but with a home that was brave enough to allow me to show the beginning, and where we can get to by intensively working with them,” Beer says.

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The changes that Beer and her team made were remarkable. For the staff, focused training on everything from nutrition to swallowing issues, as well as mentorship and kitchen support, created a genuine attitude shift. Staff felt valued, and more connected with the residents.

For the residents, even small changes – such as making their own toast at a breakfast buffet – made a positive difference, providing a sense of independence and dignity. Along with an improvement in the food being served each day, Beer’s team also worked to improve the overall environment, such as introducing an onsite herb garden, and brightening up the dining area with a new coat of paint. While these things might sound small, the impact that such things can have on a resident’s daily life can be immense. Appetite and mood improved, which have flow-on effects on health and wellbeing.

Of course, this is just one aged-care facility, and there is much more work to be done to improve food and nutrition in aged care here in Australia. Even the formidable Maggie Beer knows that she can not bring about genuine change alone. There are things that you can do, too.

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“The homes are struggling,” she says. “There are 67 percent of homes losing money in Australia. Now, there are lots of reasons for this. But it means the residents don’t get to experience joy. Like on the weekends, what happens is they don’t have any lifestyle, because of the cost of it. They don’t have the cafe open because of the cost of it. So it’s how you can do something in your area, for a home – it could be just going and playing music. It could be donating a pianola that you don’t use anymore. It could be listening to the stories of someone who’s had an exciting life, who has no family to visit them.

“[What she’s achieved so far] it’s what I would love to see for every home. I’ve got to raise a lot more money to be able to do that. But if we can, I know this will allow us to prove what’s possible.”

Where can I watch Maggie Beer’s Big Mission?

Maggie Beer’s Big Mission is now streaming on ABC iview. You can also watch her cooking show, The Cook and the Chef there if you need even more wholesome content.

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