GCSE Food preparation and nutrition

GCSE Food preparation and nutrition

As a technology teacher you will be familiar with the “Eat Well Plate – now Guide” but how is your knowledge of the “Eat Well Harvest”, food provenance and sustainability.
Entry point video for our ‘Is 5 A Day killing the planet’? teaching theme

This is the entry point video for our teaching theme “Is 5 A Day killing our planet?”

“Is 5 A Day killing our planet?”

These teaching materials (once completed) are designed to capture your pupils interest about food provenance. It looks at some of the ‘problems’ we are faced with in modern food production in the UK. Food miles, Seasonality, Food Labels, Sustainability and Food Security. (Is 5 A Day killing the planet? Is aimed at getting pupils to think about the current expectation of choices available in the shops to help them meet their 5 A Day in terms of seasonality of food, food miles and the sustainability of having this choice.) 

Before these issues can be discussed objectively pupils need a background of knowledge of how food is produced today in the UK.

This is will be done by following four food stories based around the Eat Well Guide.

• Cereals (wheat, barley oats) for the starchy carbohydrate foods
• Beef – for the beans, pulses, fish, eggs and meat section
• Fresh Veg – for the fruit and veg section
• Dairy – for the dairy products section

These are currently being produced – so anyone wishing to contribute or get involved / make comments please let me know. The current thinking haven spoken to several food technology teachers and how pressed they will be for time is to make these food stories so they can be set as homeworks with a student workbook. Once they pupils have built up their knowledge doing this then the food problems, sustainability etc can be covered as lessons / debates. Please contact me below if you would like to become more involved with this – eg trailing the resources in the spring term.

Project – Discovering STEM links in the local food chain

Discovering Our Countryside’s “Discovering STEM links in the local food chain” project is ideally placed to help you deliver the Food Provenance section of the exciting new GCSE.

Food provenance

• Where and how foods are grown, reared, or caught and the primary and secondary stages of processing and production.
• The impact of food and food security on the environment, local and global markets and communities.
• How processing affects the sensory and nutritional properties of ingredients.

Our goal is to match food technology teacher’s expertise on the “Eat Well Plate” with our local knowledge, networks and expertise of the “Eat Well Plate Harvest” and raw products.

The project can offer:

• Training and support to help teachers embed this new knowledge in the GCSE teaching.
• Help to arrange pupil visits to some local farms and food producers
  • The Farms / Producers we work with include the following areas of food production:
    • Beef (including a Cow Safari!),
    • Chickens (eggs),
    • Dairy (includes cows being milked and milk being processed and bottled),
    • Cereals (wheat barley)
    • Oilseed rape,
    • Potatoes,
    • Peas,
    • Forage crops
    • Organic Farm that produces it’s own flour and bread.
    • Great environmental schemes including a woodland walk
  • We may also be able to take teachers on a pre-visit to these farms and producers.
• Teaching resources – including schemes of work, lesson plans, videos all available on our…..
• Dedicated web site and Virtual Learning Environment, which….
• will help you develop your own resources etc to embed Food Provenance in your curriculum at both GCSE and Key Stage 3.

The only cost to your school will be any transport to any pupil visits you wish to arrange….

If you are in the North of England we may be able to work with you to produce a bespoke GCSE Food Provenance teaching package for your school. Complete contact form below and we will be in touch.