By BRIDGET COOK
ST AGATHA’s Primary School joined Jamie Oliver in his fight against obesity by taking part in his global Food Revolution Day last month.
The centrepiece of the day, held on Friday 16 May, was a global cooking lesson in which students were encouraged to make rainbow salad wraps together as way of promting healthy eating.
Prep students at St Agatha’s, along with the help of staff and parents, spent the morning in the kitchen where they learnt all about fresh produce before making the wraps and enjoying them together.
St Agatha’s Primary School prep co-ordinator Megan Crewe said the children got a lot out of the activity.
“The children were involved in learning about vegetables and herbs in their most natural form, discussing how they grow and the processes we follow to use them in our cooking,” she said.
“Children were then involved in grating and peeling vegetables, along with ripping herbs, in preparation to make the rainbow wraps.
“We then shared the wraps at a prep picnic during morning recess.
“The children learned about the origins of some vegetables and herbs, and were given the experience to contribute to the preparation of their own food – an opportunity that many are not afforded at home.
“Many experienced a great sense of pride and satisfaction at being about to say ‘I made this myself’.”
Woolworths at Cranbourne Park supported the activity by donating all of the ingredients, allowing 75 prep children and 12 adults to make and eat freshly prepared food.
Mr Oliver said the Food Revolution Day focused on inspiring kids all over the world to cook fresh and healthy food from scratch.
“Everyone knows that over the last few years I’ve been passionate about getting kids and young people to be taught to cook, whether in schools or at home,” he said.
“I believe that we all now have a duty to teach children to understand what food does to their bodies if we’re going to make any progress in tackling obesity and diet-related disease.”
