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Cooking Bus starts rolling
26/06/2008
Scotland's first Cooking Bus - a colourful kitchen on wheels teaching cooking and healthy eating skills to children, parents, teachers and community groups - was launched by the Scottish Government today.
On-board lessons will teach children how to cook simple healthy meals as well as essential food handling and preparation skills.
Top of the menu is learning about vital food issues like nutrition, hygiene and recycling.
At primary and secondary schools across Scotland, sessions on the bus will mean children and their teachers can enjoy specially tailored classes in a safe, well-equipped mobile kitchen.
Equipped with an outside plasma screen, the bus will also encourage visitors, especially in rural areas, to gather round and watch the cooking workshop.
To help make a lasting difference, the programme will provide schools and community groups with cooking equipment and teaching resources as well as training for adults in how to use them.
During school holidays, classes will also be held for community group leaders, with a particular focus on deprived areas to help tackle health inequalities.
Joining children and teachers from the Royal High Primary in Edinburgh for a lesson on the bus, Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop said:
"The cooking bus is a fun way to get children involved in preparing their own healthy meals and hopefully take what they have learned back home to their parents.
"We already know that catching youngsters at an early age is a great way to stop them falling into bad habits. We want the cooking bus to put Scotland's children on the road to a healthier future."
Public Health Minister Shona Robison said:
"The Cooking Bus is a fantastic way to teach children some of the basics about where our food comes from and how to cook healthy, tasty meals.
"Cooking doesn't have to be complicated and that will be an important lesson for the young chefs on the Cooking Bus.
"As part of Scotland's first-ever national food and drink policy we are encouraging people to develop healthy eating habits that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.
"This, along with our joint action plan to improve diet and increase physical activity, will help to tackle the serious problem of obesity and invest in a healthier future for Scotland."
Celebrity chef Nick Nairn said:
"Great news. Something I've been keen on for a long time. Let's hope it reaches out to as many kids as possible."
Lydia Wilkie, Assistant Director of the Food Standards Agency Scotland, who will be part funding the Cooking Bus said:
"The Food Standards Agency Scotland welcomes the opportunity to work in partnership with the Scottish Government on the Cooking Bus initiative.
"This project will generate real enthusiasm about food in schools and communities. We are totally committed to engaging children, as early as possible, in understanding the link between food and health and preparing them to make informed choices about what they eat in the future."
Anita Cormac, Executive Director of Focus on Food, a leading food education support programme which is running the Cooking Bus, said:
"It is fantastic to have a Cooking Bus dedicated to Scotland. Our work in schools will involve teaching young people to cook and appreciate quality food at school and at home.
"We will be training teachers to teach food education and healthy eating through cooking and working in the community to improve health and nutrition through cooking.
"Cooking is a key life skill which all children deserve to be taught well. Unless people learn to cook they cannot successfully make healthy eating choices and take full control of their food lives."
The Cooking Bus will be run through the joined commitment of the Scottish Government, the Food Standards Agency Scotland, the Focus on Food Campaign, local authorities and community groups.
So far, 200 schools have requested a visit from the Cooking Bus and applications are invited from other Scottish schools. Requests can be submitted online at www.focusonfood.org or by phone on 01422 383 191.
The bus will aim to visit all 32 councils across Scotland by the end of 2010.