FSA Food Bus come to Churchill
France, the Caribbean, Italy . . . around the world in three days . . .
Students and staff at Churchill Community College, Wallsend have just experienced an” around the world” gastronomic tour courtesy of the Focus on Food Cooking Bus.
After waiting three years for this event, a ripple of excitement built up at Churchill last Monday in anticipation of the arrival of the Food Bus. Staff and students waited with baited breath and they certainly weren’t disappointed.
The bus has been developed in partnership with the Focus on Food campaign which aims to project healthy eating and food safety messages to young people and to help develop their cooking skills.
The bus itself is actually a brightly coloured articulated lorry which opens out into a spectacular kitchen teaching area. It is staffed by two food teachers and is equipped with everything needed to educate youngsters about quality cooking, the importance of the right diet, nutrition, food preparation, food safety and hygiene.
During the week students and staff got to visit the bus and take part in a range of” hands on” cooking sessions.
The Food Bus experience kicked off with a Caribbean theme; during this session Year 7 students got to make King Crab Cakes, Caribbean Red Pepper Salad and Mango and Banana Smoothie. The” around the world” journey then continued to France, Italy and back to the Caribbean with Tomato and Basil Salad, Caramelised Onion Tartlets, Lasagne, Jamaican Patties and Berry Blitz.
As well as using healthy ingredients and learning about food hygiene, the students found out about the history of foods used and how they related to the climate of the various countries.
The sessions were led by Shirley and Rebecca, who both enjoyed their time in the North East and were particularly impressed with the preparation skills and knowledge our students demonstrated.
The bus was also visited by the School Meals Staff, Chair of Governors, the local Community Police Officers, Head teacher and other members of staff. There will be no excuse for unhealthy, uninteresting meals from now on.
‘Having the Food Bus here has been a fantastic start to the summer term. Our young people have been full of excitement about this special visit. Shirley and Rebecca planned a wonderful programme for us. We have all learnt a lot about food and how easy and reasonably priced it is to cook from scratch. ‘ Jennifer Bruce, Curriculum Leader.