The Food Teacher™, Rothamsted Enterprises and Rothamsted Research join forces to support children to become the young chefs of the future.
The importance of understanding the link between what we eat and our health couldn’t be more relevant in the current climate and education is key to sharing this message. The Food Teacher™ team, headed by Katharine Tate, have been working with schools since 2014 and launched their first Young Chef award for 9 to 11 year olds in 2017. The award has grown significantly with over 4,000 children across the country completing it last year including several Harpenden schools.
Harpenden Academy are in their second year of the awards, which Year 6 started earlier this term. Through local links, Rothamsted Enterprises have been able to offer support via their Executive Head Chef, Jeremy Beasley and scientists from Rothamsted Research. As the award is about creating a 3-course meal within a budget for their ‘HERO’, Jeremy created recipe films for the children. For his hero, he chose to make a carrot soup and mushroom pasta and his films have been complimented by Hannah McGrath, a carrot scientist and Dr. Alison Lovegrove, a wheat scientist, talking about the science around these different foods. Aside from these films, Harpenden Academy will also be linking up virtually with Jeremy for some Q and A support before they do their final cook.
Jeremy comments, “Getting involved with the Young Chef Awards has been fantastic, for me personally and for Rothamsted Restaurant. I’m a passionate believer in using local suppliers to support sustainability and to reduce our carbon footprint. I always source sustainable ingredients and encourage others to as well. I’ve really enjoyed this challenge and creating the recipes for the kids to try. Passing on my knowledge and helping the future generation to learn more about the food they eat and how much fun it is to cook for yourself is absolutely brilliant.”
Katharine Tate maintains, “Teaching children the importance of food for their health is essential and this award is fantastically engaging and motivating for youngsters. The long-term impact of food and nutrition education on life long health should never be underestimated.”
Anyone who wants to find out more can visit; http://youngchefoftheyear.com/ and view the films and accompanying recipe cards; https://youngchefoftheyear.co.uk/cook-at-home/
