Jamie’s food revolution arrives

Students at St Christopher’s School are following in the footsteps of one of Britain’s finest chefs as they celebrate healthy eating and a nutritious diet with a series of activities based on British chef ‘Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution’.

The school’s hall at the junior campus in Saar was recently transformed into a marketplace for fresh produce and home-baked goods as a number of outlets and companies hosted stalls where advice and tasty samples were dished out.

The school already teaches pupils about having a healthy diet through personal, social and health education sessions and cooking lessons, while also running competitions such as Junior Masterchef.

However, James Wilkins, the school’s subject leader for Design Technology, decided to celebrate Food Revolution Day for a third year as a special activity, and believes it makes a difference.

He said: “The children are all very aware of Jamie Oliver and his food revolution philosophy. It’s not only an event celebrated once a year, but is a universal initiative which is all about getting young people enthused about food and eating well, as well as encouraging cooking skills.

“Mainly, we want to encourage the young ones’ diets to feature a wide range of fruit and vegetables, as well as local produce. It’s not just about cutting out the cakes, sweets and takeaways, but enjoying all sorts of foods you have cooked and prepared yourself.

“Parents are involved too, by helping their kids cook from scratch. It is all about getting the whole family excited about cooking and nutrition.”

Dotted around the hall were live cooking demonstrations from Villa Mamas, Yum Cha Catering, Chef Alexandra from Jawad’s, Lumee Café and food blogging duo Laetitia and Theresa’s ‘Live & Taste’ food blog, who all provided fresh, home-cooked produce for youngsters to chomp on.

In addition, Alosra, Bossy Kitchen and the Bahrain Farmer’s Market had stalls piled with fresh fruit and veg for sale, while a long table was set out selling healthy baked goods which pupils had made at home and brought in to raise funds for charity.

Furthermore, Jassim Agriculture had a stall where student volunteers were helping others to plot plants, which their peers could then take home and grow their own fruit and vegetables.

Emily Botham, a Year 5 student, was one such green-fingered enthusiast helping her younger counterparts to plant berries. She explained: “I think this is great because people can take these home and really care for them, and hopefully get something good at the end which they can eat. It’s fun to grow your own!”

Elsewhere, children of all age groups could be seen stuffing their arms with fruit, vegetables and healthy drinks to take back to class or put in their bags. Year 6 pupil Jamie Rodgers said: “We always bring healthy snacks in our lunch boxes.”

His friend Nasser Saleh added: “Our parents have told us that eating fruit at lunch time is important, and it’s nice to see the school has held this event so we can find more things we like and can bring to school in the future.”

Special guest Lt Col RM Andy Price from the British Embassy attended the event.