Hybu Cig Cymru / Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) is aiming to help Welsh schools teach children the facts about healthy balanced diets by funding teacher training courses. It is also helping to provide resources to support teaching food in the curriculum.
Free access to the online course, Introduction to healthy eating and nutrition, was recently granted to 19 Welsh secondary teachers who registered to update their knowledge on nutrition. The training, which usually costs £65, was written and developed by the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), but places were funded by the UK’s red meat levy boards for teachers across Wales, England and Northern Ireland.
The course supports Key Stage 3 and 4 food studies and Guideline 7 of the Food teaching in secondary schools: a framework of knowledge and skills.
HCC’s Elwen Roberts has led a number of training courses and seminars for food teachers in Wales over the years. She said: “We were pleased to offer this online course to teachers in Wales. Red meat contains so many essential nutrients and minerals as part of a healthy, balanced diet; it’s important that our teachers are fully aware of the benefits and can confidently share the facts with their students.”
The course was available to educators on the Meat and Education email database, a UK-wide partnership for promoting the benefits of red meat as part of a healthy diet. However, teachers need to be aware that the Meat and Education website has now closed and that resources to support their teaching and learning about red meat have been transferred to the newly updated ‘Food – a fact of life’ website.
These include bilingual resources developed by HCC, ranging from lesson plans, posters and quick and easy red meat recipes which can be created during lesson time.
Healthy diet
Elwen Roberts pointed out that: “We have a wealth of bilingual resources that teachers can download and use for free, all of which promote the benefits of including red meat as part of a healthy, balanced diet. It is hoped that they will also encourage and assist teachers to introduce red meat and how to cook it during lessons.”
HCC has confirmed that it is also working with Food a Fact of Life to organise a teachers’ conference later in the year.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
