When I was younger, I loved fried chicken. Whether it was Chicken Cottage, KFC or the brilliantly named Hentucky Fried Chicken (my favourite as a student in Manchester), I always enjoyed a delicious hot wing or three.
But as I grew up, I became increasingly aware of animal cruelty issues and how unhealthy fried chicken can be, so I had to kick the habit. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case, thanks to a new social enterprise in Tottenham called Chicken Town, which I think is the most interesting restaurant in London right now.
For one thing, it serves the most delicious fried chicken I’ve ever eaten. But what makes the place truly special is its mission, which is to help young people in the area eat more healthily.
In Tottenham today, more than one in three 10-year-olds is obese or overweight.
It’s a shocking statistic, and when you look at the food offerings in the area, you can see why. Within a square mile in the area, there are 34 fast food outlets, where a single meal can make up almost an entire day’s recommended calorie intake.
That’s where Chicken Town comes in. If you’re under 18, you can buy a Chicken Town “meal deal”, which looks just like the food on offer in regular fried chicken shops, but it’s much better for you.
The chicken is free-range, and steamed before being lightly fried in rapeseed oil. That means it has half the saturated fat of regular fried chicken, and about eight times less salt. You also get fries and coleslaw with your meal, but these are low-fat and healthy versions too.
What’s so clever about Chicken Town is that this meal costs just £2 — the same price as meals in the fast food places nearby, so it’s affordable and attractive for local youngsters. This is made possible by a sit-down restaurant that serves the same food in the evening but at full-price.
It’s an inspired model, because it means that the social mission can be sustainably funded, instead of relying on unpredictable annual grants.
When it comes to entrepreneurs in London using food to tackle some of our deepest social problems, Chicken Town isn’t alone.
Check out Mazi Mas, for example, which is a pop-up restaurant staffed by chefs who are refugees and migrant women who have struggled to find work here. Or look at the wonderful Better Health Bakery in Hackney, which provides work placements for people with mental health issues, helping them to rebuild their confidence and learn new skills.
There aren’t many human activities older than preparing a meal and eating together, so it’s perhaps not surprising that food is such a great vehicle for social projects like these. But these social food businesses also show that Londoners who want to make a difference increasingly think of starting a company to make that change happen.
This is now seen as just as a valid a route for doing good as working for the public sector or a charity, which is a really positive shift.
According to the great Jewish philosopher Maimonides, the highest form of charity is to create a job. That’s exactly what these social businesses in London are doing, and they’re serving delicious food at the same time. What’s not to love about that?
