The Chefs@School: Inspiring Food Education project was launched earlier this week by Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead at the Gleneagles Hotel, with the backing of Michelin-starred chef Andrew Fairlie.
Professional chefs and cooks from all sectors of industry will be linked to primary and secondary schools where they will run workshops that cover food provenance and the importance of healthy diet, as well as discussing career opportunities in the food, drink and hospitality industry.
The initiative is designed around the principles of Curriculum for Excellence with teachers able to select the lesson plan that best suits their class.The project will be managed by the Federation of Chefs Scotland who are collaborating with all the other chefs associations and aims to engage with at least 15,000 pupils over the next two years.
Andrew Fairlie, Scotland’s only two Michelin starred chef, is supporting the project and said:
“I am absolutely delighted to see the Chefs@School project get off the ground and it’s fantastic to see so many great chefs from all around Scotland so keen to become involved. This is something that schools have been crying out for, for a long time now. It’s a great opportunity for chefs to engage with children, not only on the importance of healthy eating, but the pleasure of preparing and eating fresh food. My hope is that it we will provide an attractive, fascinating and fun subject incorporated into the school curriculum. If this in turn inspires more children to consider a career in hospitality then the time invested by chefs will be very well spent. To this end I would encourage as many chefs as possible to sign up for this really exciting opportunity to promote our industry.
Calling all Scottish Chefs and cooks please sign up to help deliver Inspiring food education at www.chefsatschool.org
