Welcome to the February issue of the secondary newsletter intended especially for teachers and pupils. Please pass on any ideas or information that you find useful to parents and carers too.

Reminder to all registered schools! Grow your Space! If you haven’t added your latest Year of Food and Farming news, photos or blog entries, why don’t you update your Space now? That way, schools around the country can learn how others are getting involved in the Year.

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Following the recent Government announcement that cooking is to be reinstated in the core curriculum for students in Key Stage 3, food and healthy lifestyles are firmly back on the school agenda. The decision follows sustained campaigning by the Soil Association, Focus on Food Campaign, Health Education Trust and many other organisations.

The change to the curriculum is part of a wider strategy to support the creation of a healthy society – from early years, to schools and food, from sport and physical activity to planning, transport and the health service. Through the strategy, t he Government hopes to address the twofold problem of tackling obesity and diet-related ill health as well as encouraging environmentally-friendly ways of producing food.

The five key elements of the strategy are:

  • The healthy growth and development of children
  • Promoting healthier food choices
  • Building physical activity into our lives
  • Creating incentives for better health
  • Personalised advice and support.

The strategy aims to give young people the lifelong education they need for a healthy lifestyle – more sport and exercise in and out of school; more play and sports facilities; cooking skills and understanding of diet; and stamping out unhealthy and junk food in schools.

Teaching children about healthy lifestyles and giving them the skills to cook nutritious, balanced meals is an obvious way of incorporating healthy living into the curriculum. There are, however, plenty more ways of introducing this topic into your lessons.

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‘Food 4 Thought’ Unit of Work for Key Stage 3 Geography

East Devon District Council has produced a ‘Food 4 Thought’ Unit of Work for Key Stage 3 Geography. This provides a locally relevant way of teaching the geographical principles of consumption, food production and sustainability. The unit is supported by a film featuring three East Devon farms, three Exmouth Community College pupils and local Michelin-starred Chef Michael Caines MBE who devised three dishes specifically for the project. The essential message of the unit of work is that geography is relevant to all of us in our lives and everything that we do has an impact, be that local or global and the underlying principle is to spark debate. The unit was produced by the Council’s Countryside Service, with support from Natural England and the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Partnership. For more information contact James Chubb on 01395 517557.

‘Healthy School Meals’ activities for Key Stage 3 Food Technology

The Meat and Livestock Commission has supported the teaching of food and provided information on the role of red meat in a balanced diet for over 20 years. Its Meat and Education website contains a range of activities for teaching Key Stage 3 Food Technology which focus on the subject of ‘Healthy School Meals’. These resources include questions, tasks, activities and discussion topics based on national data on school meals, snacks and packed lunches that will encourage students to investigate recent changes in school food.

These activities can be found at: http://www.meatandeducation.com/resources/downloads/activitysheets.php

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Here’s a selection of additional ideas for incorporating the theme ‘Healthy living’ into the curriculum.

History

As part of a topic on the Second World War, the students could research the types of foods that people ate during that time. Compare this diet with the food that people typically eat today – what are the main differences? Which diet do the children think is nutritionally superior? Do they agree that the Second World War diet, which contains less saturated fat and sugar, could actually be healthier? Which of the two diets would the students prefer to eat?

As an extension to this work, the students could compare the quantities of different food types eaten today with the ration amounts that were allowed during the Second World War. For example, in 1941, each adult was allowed 2oz of butter, 1oz of cheese and ½ pint of milk in a week. How does this compare with the amounts of these foods eaten today? You could even bring the above rationed amounts into school in order to demonstrate the limited quantities available for people to eat during that time.

Geography

Ask the students to research the types of food grown and eaten by people living in different parts of the world. Encourage them to cover a contrasting range of countries and diets. They should consider how climate affects the type of produce that is grown and the various styles of cooking that have developed in different regions. Finally, they could consider what impact the different diets have on the health of a country’s population, for instance the impact of a Mediterranean diet on heart disease.

English

Assign the students a range of roles and scenarios, for example: a food nutritionist; a fitness instructor; a government health minister; a manager from a large food manufacturer; a ‘stay at home’ parent who thinks it’s important to cook meals using fresh, healthy ingredients; a working parent who hasn’t got the time to prepare home cooked meals; a single parent on a low income who feels he/she hasn’t got enough money to eat healthily; and so on.

The day before the lesson, tell the students to research and then formulate opinions and arguments for their character around the theme of ‘Healthy lifestyles’. During the lesson, the students should debate, in character, the problems caused by poor diets, unhealthy lifestyles and obesity. Who does each of the characters think is to blame for these problems and whose responsibility is it to sort things out? Still in character, they should then discuss what constitutes a healthy diet and lifestyle and what should be done in order to improve the health of the nation.

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Catch the Cooking Bus!

The Food Standards Agency Cooking Bus has been developed in partnership with the Focus on Food Campaign to get across healthy eating and food safety messages to school children in an engaging way. For 42 weeks a year it sets out to different destinations around the country where its two teachers work with school staff to inspire children and highlight the importance of food education, while supporting the national curriculum, teachers’ own work objectives, and Government health messages. To apply for the Cooking Bus, you initially need to complete the registration form at www.food.gov.uk/healthiereating/nutritionschools/bus.

Active Kids 2008 is up and running!

Sainsbury’s Active Kids is about influencing young people in a positive way by providing them with live experiences, activities and equipment. It involves an instore voucher collection scheme which encourages children to be more active and eat healthily. Last year, schools, guide and scout groups around the country exchanged their vouchers for a share of £18 million worth of Active Kids equipment and experiences. The Active Kids 2008 campaign will run from 14 February to 4 June.

For further information visit www.sainsburys.co.uk/activekids/Active+Kids+home.htm.

Enjoy England: Schools’ poetry competition

In support of the Year of Food and Farming, the theme of Enjoy England’s Celebrate St George’s Day Schools’ poetry writing competition 2008 is… food and farming. Poems are invited from young people aged 14 or under. Ideas and competition information can be found at www.celebratestgeorgesday.com .

Get growing!

Garden Organic is offering schools the chance to obtain varieties of vegetable seeds that could potentially become extinct. By growing the vegetables and saving the seeds, schools could help to preserve these endangered varieties. The unusual crops, it is hoped, will encourage an interest in students and help them to connect with their cultural heritage.

The seeds available for schools this year are:
Dwarf French Bean – ‘Early Warwick’;
Onion – ‘Up to date’;
Parsnip – ‘Guernsey’;
Pea – ‘Clarke’s Beltony Blue’;
Tomato – ‘Tiger Tom’;
Mangel – ‘Yellow Intermediate’.

Follow the link to find out more and order your seeds. www.gardenorganic.org.uk/schools_organic_network/news/news_topic.php?id=24

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Farming images on the web

Thousands of images and videos on food, farming, agriculture and the countryside are now available from Living Countryside Ltd. Visit the UK Agriculture website to explore the multimedia library.

Why Farming Matters

The Why Farming Matters resource packs for Key Stage 2 and 3, which have proved to be extremely popular, are now available electronically. To access a series of activities on a wide range of farming topics, as well as three sets of picture cards and a DVD containing interviews with farmers about their lives and work, visit www.face-online.org.uk/whyfarmingmatters.

Animal welfare

Information about the Animal Welfare Act and how this applies to people involved in education, including keeping farm animals, is now available in the FAQ section of the RSPCA education website.

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Salt shake up

Research by TNS Worldpanel has shown a large decrease in the amount of salt contained in products bought by Britons last year. The information on the nutrition labels of 100,000 food and drink products purchased from the country’s leading supermarkets by 25,000 households was analysed and the findings pointed to a 2,000 tonne reduction in the amount of salt bought by consumers.

Product categories experiencing the biggest reductions included crisps, breakfast cereals, bread, home cooking products and canned goods. These five categories combined accounted for a 1,900 tonne reduction in the amount of salt bought by consumers last year.

The Food and Drink Federation has attributed the reduction to the food industry’s ongoing efforts to reformulate products to lower salt levels and increased awareness of the issue.

Source: Food and Drink Federation, 25/1/08

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Schools have been telling us about some of the projects that they have set up as part of the Year of Food and Farming. Here’s how one secondary school has been taking part.

Hirst High School

As part of Hirst High School’s Rural Dimension and the Year of Food and Farming, the school enjoyed a ‘Rural Day’ in December where all students had the opportunity to learn about issues surrounding food, farming and the countryside.

Year 9 spent half the morning with the junk food road show and the other half either tasting organic and non-organic produce, or taking part in an enterprise project making models of farm animals. The students then visited Whitehouse Farm in the afternoon where they had a tour of the farm and learnt about the production of various animals, including cows, sheep and pigs. They also went on a tractor ride around the farm.

Year 10 spent half the day at Whitehouse Farm and the other half in school where they participated in a range of activities. These included a butcher showing the students how to pluck pheasants, skin rabbits and so on; The Country Trust demonstrating how to milk a cow; discussions about beaver conservation with the Northumberland Wildlife Trust, and a demonstration from the Falconry display team from Keilder.

Year 11 went to the Highland Cow Centre at Stocksfield where they had a tour of the farm and a lecture on intensive farming and animal handling. In addition, students combed a Highland cow and handled and fed some of the animals.

Year 12/13 went to Northumbria University where they had a lecture on food production.

https://www.yearoffoodandfarming.org.uk/spaces/hirst-high1/School.aspx

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In England alone, nearly a quarter of men and women are now obese. In addition, 18 per cent of 2-15 year olds are currently obese and a further 14 per cent are overweight. On current trends, nearly 60 per cent of the UK population will be obese by 2050.

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