It aims to raise £50,00 through online investment platform Kickstarter to get the project off the ground. Create has already raised £265,500 of core capital funding towards the project, including a £15,500 grant from the Mayor of London’s High Street Fund.
The aim is to tackle child obesity at its source by opening a restaurant to offer an alternative to the 8,000 chicken shops dominating the high street. Opening in Tottenham this September, it will serve chicken meals to young people in the daytime at the same price as local chicken shops. Food to go options will be available all day.
In the evening it will operate as a neighbourhood restaurant and all profits raised will be used to fund the daytime meals for local young people. A network of outreach community initiatives will also be aimed at encouraging young people to think about what they eat.
Chicken Town is the culmination of a two-year research project that has investigated the causes of obesity and positive alternatives for young people in London.
Tottenham has some of the highest child obesity rates in the UK, with over 40% of 11-year-olds classified as obese. Chicken Town will cater for the whole community in Tottenham but most importantly to young people on their way home from school.
Executive chef Giorgio Ravelli, whose previous experience includes Upstairs at the Ten Bells and The Ledbury, is working with leading nutritionists to design a menu consisting of healthy, delicious and affordable alternatives to the high in salt, sugar and fat fried chicken meals so popular amongst young people.
