Featured Speaker
Ryan Riley
Co-Founder, Life Kitchen
Ryan Riley opened a cookery school for people with Cancer in 2019.
Life Kitchen is a not-for-profit cookery school for people whose taste has been affected by cancer or cancer treatment. It also teaches anyone who is experiencing an altered sense of taste due to Covid. Life Kitchen’s focus is on taste and flavour and helping people enjoy food again.
During cancer treatment and Covid, a lot of patients lose or experience changes to their sense of taste or smell. This is a really difficult side effect that can make mealtimes difficult and isolating.
Life Kitchen is run by co-founders Ryan Riley, author, cook and food stylist, and Kimberley Duke, recipe developer, trained chef and food stylist.
Both Ryan and Kim were inspired to launch Life Kitchen after losing parents to cancer.
Throughout Ryan’s mum Krista’s two-year battle with cancer, Ryan saw how chemotherapy was affecting her ability to taste and experience food. After her death, he wanted to honour his mother’s memory and use his cooking skills to help cancer patients find flavour and pleasure in food again. And so, Life Kitchen was born.
Life Kitchen is backed by science and they are advised by Professor Barry Smith, the founder of the Centre for Study of the Senses.
Professor Smith guides the Life Kitchen team on recipes and ingredients so that people living with an altered sense of taste get enjoyment out of food.
