Meryn Parsons – the teenage chef prodigy
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Being 15 years old, Meryn Parsons was by far the youngest volunteer with the Bridgend Farmhouse COVID-19 Food Resilience Response Project. “She is our mascot”, says Eric Fernandez-Baca, our Food Support Worker at Bridgend and manager of the COVID food project. But make no mistake: behind her very young age lies a steady determination. In fact, the teenager has only one thing in her mind: to become a chef. “It’s my dream” she admits. A dream which first started to come true in the training kitchen of the Farmhouse, about one and half years ago – long before we knew of COVID or the devasting impact it would have on our local communities. |
“I came here through my mum, who was in touch with the former Development Manager, Donna McArdle. Because Donna knew that I loved cooking, she asked my mum if I wanted to come along. And this is how I got involved here”, Meryn says.
The teenage girl, who has been living her entire life in the neighbourhood, has since participated in a lot of cooking activities. The project she enjoyed the most? Probably “Come dine wi’ me”, a sort of replica of the famous TV show, but in Bridgend’s style. “We would make food for local residents and then they would give us a star rating. But it was for free, they just had to give a donation or anything that they wanted”, she explains. Meryn also cooked for the monthly international community meals, a special event when people would gather at night at the Farmhouse to enjoy food from a different country: “I participated in a Spanish, a Turkish and a Peruvian night,” she recalls.
For Meryn, coming to the farm was a breath of fresh air. “It was nice to go out of school for a couple of hours every week to actually do something that I wanted to do. And everybody at the Farmhouse is nice”, she says.
As weeks went by, Meryn gained the experience she needed. “Coming here gave me like an eye-opener into what exactly I wanted to do in cooking. And it was just better learning here than in a massive restaurant,” she explains while smiling. Thanks to the Farmhouse, the teenager obtained her REHIS Food Hygiene Certificate. And in September 2019, she competed for FutureChef in Scotland. “I came second”, she reported proudly.
During the pandemic, Meryn didn’t hesitate to offer her help with the food emergency project. “From the beginning of May, I’ve been coming here five days a week to cook”, she explains. A further boost for her career, just before she enters a cooking school in Edinburgh in August.
The teenage girl, who has been living her entire life in the neighbourhood, has since participated in a lot of cooking activities. The project she enjoyed the most? Probably “Come dine wi’ me”, a sort of replica of the famous TV show, but in Bridgend’s style. “We would make food for local residents and then they would give us a star rating. But it was for free, they just had to give a donation or anything that they wanted”, she explains. Meryn also cooked for the monthly international community meals, a special event when people would gather at night at the Farmhouse to enjoy food from a different country: “I participated in a Spanish, a Turkish and a Peruvian night,” she recalls.
For Meryn, coming to the farm was a breath of fresh air. “It was nice to go out of school for a couple of hours every week to actually do something that I wanted to do. And everybody at the Farmhouse is nice”, she says.
As weeks went by, Meryn gained the experience she needed. “Coming here gave me like an eye-opener into what exactly I wanted to do in cooking. And it was just better learning here than in a massive restaurant,” she explains while smiling. Thanks to the Farmhouse, the teenager obtained her REHIS Food Hygiene Certificate. And in September 2019, she competed for FutureChef in Scotland. “I came second”, she reported proudly.
During the pandemic, Meryn didn’t hesitate to offer her help with the food emergency project. “From the beginning of May, I’ve been coming here five days a week to cook”, she explains. A further boost for her career, just before she enters a cooking school in Edinburgh in August.
This article was written by Freelance journalist Lou-Eve Popper. You can see more of her work on her website here: www.louevepopper.com
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