Cooking becomes a pleasure again for Jaye

Whether food preparation is seen as a chore or a pleasure, one thing is for sure – it is a necessary everyday activity. A new product from Peta (UK) Ltd has brought a new found pleasure to meal times for Jaye from Cardiff.

Jaye found preparing meals to be a painful and at times impossible task due to the psoriatic arthritis which affects her hands, left wrist and both shoulders. Jaye told us of the difficulties she encountered preparing a meal;

“I find it hard to use a grater as holding it in place is too painful; I also find holding food in place whilst I chop takes a lot of effort. Sometimes my hands swell up and my left wrist is so painful that I cannot use it so I have to work one handed. Tipping food from a chopping board into the pan is another issue as I find the board is too heavy.”

Peta (UK) Ltd, designers and manufacturers of the Easi-Grip® range of assistive devices, put a decade of research into the design of its new Multi-Function Food Preparation board. Managing Director Genny Crockett said:

“we wanted to create a product that maximised functionality whilst looking attractive so that it would be suitable for any kitchen.”

Having worked with her new board from Peta for a few days Jaye told us:

“I found the food preparation board very useful. I used the grater to make a cheese sandwich and it was fantastic. The board is really stable so no effort is needed to keep it in place. This meant that I could do it one handed, the effort needed to grate was also lessened and this meant that I was able to grate without asking for help.

I also used the board to chop courgette and aubergine for a curry. I used the spikes to hold the food in place. It worked really well with the courgettes, but admittedly the aubergine did not stay in place so well due to its shape.

I really liked being able to scoop the vegetables into the metal tray, this can be done one handed and emptied straight into a plan, as picking up a chopping board is difficult due to my wrist and hands, usually I have to pick up a handful of food at a time going back and forth to the chopping board which puts pressure on my hips and ankles so this lower body pressure was relieved too!”