The heat is on and the pressure will be mounting as schools in Cardiff go head-to-head in a clash of the cooks at County Hall next week.
Students from five city high schools will be pitting themselves against each other in a battle to have their culinary creations included on the menu in all Cardiff’s secondary schools, as part of a ‘Live N Cooking’ event to celebrate the contribution School Nutrition Action Groups (SNAGs) make towards improving food and nutrition in their schools. The event is organised by Cardiff Catering and the Public Health Dietetic Team of Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
Live N Cooking is Cardiff Catering’s award-winning initiative, which was developed to ignite young people’s interest in good food and encourage them to try cooking themselves. The scheme involves live cooking demonstrations with Executive Chef Martyn Payne, rustling up healthy, nutritious and affordable meals in little more than 10 minutes to show that cooking can be quick, easy and fun.
The SNAG celebration event on Wednesday May 25 (9.30am to 1pm) will see some of the city’s most proactive SNAGs – Llanishen High School, Whitchurch High School, Cantonian High School, St Teilo’s Church in Wales High School and Llanrumney High School – flexing their culinary muscles in a cook off to produce and an energy-packed breakfast dish to kick off the school day, an innovative hot or cold mid-morning snack and an exciting meal of the day.
All recipes must be appealing to young people, aged 11 to 19, be nutritionally balanced, practical to prepare in large volumes in the school kitchen and use ingredients available to school caterers. The dishes must comply with Appetite for Life guidelines which aim to improve nutritional standards of food and drink in schools in Wales, and must not contain either confectionary or deep fried foods, or be high in sugar, fat or salt.
All creations will be judged by a panel including Executive Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, Cllr Freda Salway; Dr Sharon Hopkins, Executive Director of Public Health for the Cardiff and Vale University Local Health Board, senior officers from the Schools and Lifelong Learning Catering Direct Services Unit, senior Dietitians from Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, pupils and guests.
Throughout the event there will be focus group work as well as practical cooking sessions, nutrition education and fun games. Following a buffet lunch, the moment of truth will arrive when the winners of the Live ‘n’ Cooking Cook Off 2011 are announced.
The morning’s activities will also include an initiative called SHARE when chef Martyn will show a group of students how to prepare a dish using new potatoes, fresh fillet of mackerel, seasonal salad leaves and hard boiled eggs. These students, supported by Cardiff Catering managers will then show another group of students how to prepare the same dish and this group will share the know how with another group and so on.
The dish will promote the key healthy eating messages as shown in the Eatwell Plate, a Food Standards Agency model that helps people understand the quantities and types of food needed for a healthy diet.
Executive Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, Cllr Freda Salway, said: “It’s very important to engage young people in the creation of our school menus. After all, they are the ones eating in our school canteens each day.
“SNAG groups are an excellent way of educating young people about the benefits of eating a well-balanced and nutritious diet as part of a healthy lifestyle and they are also wonderful platforms for gaining young people’s views on the food they are served in school.
“I know the students taking part in the cook off will be very well prepared and ready to show the judges how good their recipes are. We are hoping to find our very own Master Chefs. “
The afternoon session will include a SNAG forum where the five schools will have the opportunity to showcase what they have achieved in their school and to discuss ways to further improve the uptake of healthy food by young people.
Dr Sharon Hopkins, Director of Public Health, said: “Food in schools is very important in encouraging children and young people to make healthy choices. The SNAGs have proved to be a great way for pupils, school cooks and dietitians to work together to encourage children and young people to make healthy choices, and ensure consistent healthy eating messages from the classroom to the canteen.
“This cook-off is a fabulous way of getting our young people to decide what they want to see on their school menus.”
