British Food Fortnight firmly on school calendar

Each year hundreds of schools, colleges and children’s clubs take part in British Food Fortnight using it as a learning tool to get students excited about the diversity of food we have in this country and how to cook it. This year was no exception. British Food Fortnight ran from 22 Sept – 7 Oct and saw over 240,000 school kids taking part in a variety of ways from visiting local farms, tasting local seasonal produce to specially created classroom activities.
For the launch of British Food Fortnight Hampshire County Council’s catering arm, HC3S, took primary school children to visit Hampshire suppliers Chalk Stream to learn about local British fish on the River Test in Romsey, showing their importance in food production. HC3S also arranged visits from their suppliers into schools to explain what makes eggs free range and what ‘Laid in Britain’ standards are, how English apple juice is made and the pressing process, and, how to make honey from bees. A minimum of 70% of Hampshire schools participated with a pick and mix British/harvest menu. And they also ran a ‘Food to Flourish’ project for KS1 and KS2 in primary schools with emphasis on food related topics including discussions in class in line with the national curriculum.
Thanks to LACA (Local Authority Catering Association) and schools catering organisations such as Cucina and Sodexo over 2 million British meals were served during the Fortnight across the public sector including schools and universities.
British Food Fortnight is an established annual event run by the team behind Love British Food. It celebrates all that is great about food produced here on our doorstep and to bring British food to life for students there is a recently updated resource pack within the Teacher Zone on www.lovebritishfood.co.uk with downloadable guides providing ideas on ways to introduce British food into the National Curriculum.
Founder of Love British Food and British Food Fortnight Alexia Robinson said “We have just staged the 16th year of British Food Fortnight and it’s very encouraging to see an increase in the number of schools taking part year on year as well as organisations within the schools’ supply chain. In addition to using the very comprehensive resource pack on our website we urge schools to enlist the support of parents. Family participation will help children become enthusiastic about preparing and enjoying food.”
Chef Raymond Blanc invites everyone to get involved
The search to find the most imaginative celebrations of British food taking place during the Fortnight has begun. Previous winners include community groups from Bath, Emsworth and Peterborough to schools in Hampshire and food festival organisers such as Ginger & Spice. Any school organising an event is encouraged to enter. Visit www.lovebritishfood.co.uk for more details.