Teaching children to cook

Amid concerns about childhood obesity and a general lack of knowledge about food, some parents are taking action to get kids cooking - including Jane Allen, who has two children, Zoe, nine and Josh, seven. Every September Jane, chair of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), takes time off work to teach children at Ewelme Primary School in Oxfordshire how to cook.

“It started three years ago when we were thinking of ways to celebrate British Food Fortnight,” she explains. “We decided to make soup using British produce. We make sure all 67 children at the school get a turn at cooking. We split them into groups and cook with them on diffrent days - we’ve made soup, bread, fruit salad and once cooked an entire meal for the school.”

The scheme is PTA funded and Jane has also persuaded local businesses such as catering companies to make donations.

“I’m not trained, but I enjoy cooking for my family and I think it’s so important for children to learn to cook,” she says. “One four-year-old boy refused to eat fruit until he made fruit salad. Now he loves it.

Two years ago, Karyn Bowman, from Bures, Suffolk, set up a weekly after-school cookery club for pupils aged six and seven at her daughter Maisie’s primary school. “I was motivated by the fact that so many of the children couldn’t name basic salad ingredients like lettuce and cucumber or had never tried fruits like kiwi or melon,” says Karyn, who also works as a classroom assistant.

“Often when Maisie had friends for tea they wouldn’t eat any veg and would always want fish fingers. I helped to set up the club as a way of inspiring children to eat good food and try things they normally wouldn’t eat.”

Fiona Bird, a mother of six from Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland, runs Stirrin’ Stuff, a scheme that takes cookery demonstrations and workshops to primary schools, food fairs and after-school clubs.

Six years ago, Fiona decided to set up children’s cooking workshops. “I had always cooked with my own children, but from talking to children who came to our house, I became aware that wasn’t the case for all families,” she says. “I applied for various community grants and also approached food producers and suppliers for sponsorhip. It hasn’t been easy, but tenacity(sticking firmly) is the key.

Fiona is also campaigning to get cookery on to the primary school curriculum. “Some five-year-olds know how to chop veg, whereas there are 11- and 12-year-olds who have never even peeled a potato,” she says. “If you can get them cooking while they are young, they’ll be able to take these skills back into their homes.”

Donna Mackenzie, aged 10, did one of Fiona’s workshops. “She taught us how to make couscous salad,” says Donna. “I’d never eaten couscous before - it looked a wee bit ugly - but I changed my mind about it once I tasted it.

I also learned other useful things, like how to crush a garlic clove properly with salt and the blade of a knife. A lot of my friends refuse to try anything new, but I’m now very good at trying different foods.”

- BBC GoodFood