The focus on food campaign

The Focus on Food Campaign

How do we get the nation cooking and eating healthily? The 'Focus on Food' Campaign has taken it one step further. Instead of bringing the cooks to the kitchen why not take the kitchen to the cooks? In this article we find out about The Cooking Buses and the difference they are making.

Founded in 1998 and set up to support the teaching of cooking in schools and communities, The Focus on Food Campaign has become Britain’s leading deliverer of practical food education and teacher training.

Anita Cormac OBE, founder and Executive Director of Focus on Food and The Cooking School at Dean Clough, describes the work of the Campaign:

“At the centre of the Campaign is the teaching of basic cooking skills (at no cost to the learners) and establishing a positive attitude to food, diet and longer term health for the individual. Food safety is integral to the learning process. In this programme, cooking is seen as the key connection, the activity at the heart of good food education, empowering children and adults to take control of their food lives and longer term health.”

The Cooking Buses
Focus on Food’s schools and community outreach programme is spearheaded by The Cooking Buses, unique full-size travelling teaching kitchens housed within expandable, articulated vehicles, which open out into state-of-the-art food learning environments.

Highly experienced qualified teachers on each of the five Cooking Buses teach over 40,000 individuals per annum from children aged 4 – 19 and they train 2,500 teachers to teach curriculum-linked cooking, healthy eating and food safety. Workshops for parents and others in the community provide vital culinary skills coupled with nutritional and dietary advice.

Cooking Buses are sponsored by the Governments of England, Scotland and Wales, the BIG Lottery, a Regional Development Agency and The Helen Hamlyn Trust. Although all Buses teach cooking skills linked to choosing food wisely, eating 5 (or more) portions of fruit and vegetables every day, limiting intake of salt, saturated fat, and sugar, each Bus has a particular remit.

The Healthier Scotland Cooking Bus, funded by The Scottish Government, travels to primary and secondary schools and communities throughout Scotland. It combines the teaching of healthier approaches to contemporary cooking with local produce with positive dietary health messages.

The Welsh Assembly Government-supported Cooking Bus teaches children in primary schools situated in Communities First (disadvantaged) areas of the country. Its programme, delivered in conjunction with Wales’ Healthy School Coordinators, concentrates on healthy eating and also offers cooking lessons for parents.

School community participation is central to the Food for Life Partnership 5 year programme set up to transform school food culture in 180 flagship communities in England. BIG Lottery funding enables The Food for Life Partnership Cooking Bus programme to harness the community enthusiasm and expertise to grow, cook and eat quality food at school and at home.

On board the Yorkshire Forward (Regional Development Agency) Cooking Bus secondary students in the Yorkshire and Humber region learn advanced culinary skills in preparation for a career in the food and drink industry.

Training the teachers

The Open Futures Cooking Bus delivers teacher training and cooking workshops in the North and South of England. Enabling teachers to teach cooking includes training them in the specific pedagogic skills, aspects of nutrition and positive dietary health messages as well as the planning and organization of such activities at school.

Teacher training takes place weekly on every Cooking Bus, regardless of its special remit. The training embeds a legacy of specialist expertise in the schools with teachers and teaching assistants confident and competent to teach cooking effectively. Schools recognize the value and importance of Continuing Professional Development for teaching and support staff especially since the entitlement for 11 – 14 year olds to learn to cook at school and Sir Jim Rose’s proposals for a new primary curriculum.

The Teaching Academy is the first of its kind to offer Focus on Food’s unique specialist CPD in cooking skills to primary and secondary teachers, class assistants, club and youth leaders. Training takes place in Focus on Food’s brand new facility, The Cooking School at Dean Clough in Halifax. Skills teaching and progression and development are illustrated through the preparation of ingredients used in a range of simple dishes. More complex dishes focus on the principles of healthier balanced eating and new food tastes and textures. The Teaching Academy Certification is awarded to successful course participants.

For more information

Underpinning the teacher training and The Cooking Bus’ programme is a range of resources including COOK SCHOOL, the first magazine-style food education publication written, photographed and designed by Focus on Food.

For more information about The Focus on Food Campaign and The Teaching Academy please visit www.focusonfood.org and www.thecookingschool.co.uk or call us on 01422 383 191

Anita Cormac OBE