Food4Life
City of Edinburgh Council’s Health Improvement Unit describe how a grant from FSA Scotland (FSAS) was used to devise and implement ‘FOOD4LIFE’, a project delivering healthy eating and food hygiene messages to 16 – 25 year olds living independently.
Aims and Objectives:
Two project proposals were originally submitted to the FSAS in January 2004.
- Promoting Food Hygiene to Young Adults
- Promoting Food Hygiene to Edinburgh Students
The two proposals were amalgamated on request of FSAS and a grant was awarded to take the project forward. The objectives of the project were;
- To reduce the incidence of food poisoning in young adults in Edinburgh.
- To develop a food safety image and brand that targets young adults
- To link food safety messages to issues of diet and healthy eating.
- To provide training in food safety for community food workers.
- To raise awareness and provide information about food safety, cooking skills and diet to undergraduate students
- To raise awareness and provide information and training in cooking skills and food safety targeting young adults living in Social Inclusion Partnership areas or other areas of deprivation.
Background
The incidence of food poisoning significantly rises in the 16-25 age group. Campylobacter is the most common cause of food poisoning in Scotland with 5,121 laboratory reports out of a total of 7,682 notifications in 2002 (SCIEH 2003). The 2001 infection rates per 100,000 in Lothian rises sharply from 36 per 100,000 for the 5-19 age group to 118 per 100,000 in the 20-24 age group (SCIEH 2003). There are approximately 64,000 young adults (16-24) living in Edinburgh – 14% of the population. In addition Edinburgh has a large university/college population that has grown by over 20% in ten years to approximately 35,000(Higher Education Statistics Agency 2001/2).
Edinburgh Environmental Health Officers undertaking food poisoning investigations identified that many young adults' awareness of safe handling and storage of food was minimal and that their cooking skills and understanding of healthy eating were poor. The young adults themselves supported this view often reporting that they were unsure how to safely handle and cook food, that they may recently have attempted to cook a chicken, sometimes identifying themselves as the cause of the food poisoning, and stating that they could not afford to eat in restaurants or cafes.
Existing food safety information is not focused towards young adults and the subject is seen as being dull. There has been a reduction in the opportunity for children to gain knowledge and skills in relation to food due a decline in the opportunity both at school and at home to learn about food and practice safe and healthy preparation.
Leaving home to live independently for the first time is a transition stage to adulthood when many new skills need to be developed. It was proposed that by providing information targeted to appeal to young adults that this would influence lifestyle choices which will result in long-term health improvements in the population through reducing the incidence of food poisoning, improving diet and encouraging cooking skills.
It was proposed that these issues could be addressed by developing a completely new initiative working in partnership with local agencies that would also fit into the stated aim of the FSAS to reduce the incidence of food poisoning in the UK by 20% by 2006.
Partners
1.Edinburgh City Council Health Improvement Team
2.Scotmid - supermarket retail chain with a strong focus on community involvement and promotion of Fair Trade products
3.Universities:
Edinburgh
Heriot Watt
Napier
Queen Margaret
Art College
Jewel and Esk Valley
Community Groups with workers taking part in food hygiene courses:
a) Edinburgh Community Food Initiative (ECFI)
Supports 14 local food coops. Workers run a number of projects including cooking courses, Snack Attack(fresh fruit to schools), subsidised fruit to vulnerable families. Funded by CEC and Lothian Health, ECFI is a city wide initiative.
b) Pilton Community Health Project
Barri Grubb runs a local food coop, promotes healthy eating and cooking groups for local residents in this SIP area.
c) Greengables Nursery
Sited in Craigmillar, a SIP area. A food worker undertakes cooking groups and life skill courses with young parents.
d) Capacity Building
Based in Craigmillar.A training centre that runs courses for local residents to assist access to work. "Buys-in" Food hygiene courses and carries out Informal cooking with youth groups.
e) Rock Trust
City centre drop-in Healthy Living Centre and support for vulnerable (homeless or in care) young people to develop skills for independent living. Advice and classes run on range of life skills topics including food.
Target Groups
Two distinct target groups were identified as students and young adults living in areas of depravation or otherwise disadvantaged. These groups were identified as gaining the most from the project, would cover a large percentage of the target age group and as two distinct groups would allow access through existing routes.
Methodology
The project was delivered in 4 ways; creating the FOOD4LIFE branding and publicity material, disseminating FOOD4LIFE information at Freshers Fairs to undergraduate students, delivering food hygiene training to community group workers to cascade to clients and delivery of FOOD4LIFE workshops at the Youth Scotland conference.
1) FOOD4LIFE branding and publicity
A logo and booklet were designed to deliver the FOOD4LIFE healthy eating and food hygiene messages. The production of the logo and development of the booklet was coordinated with an external design agency and the department's marketing manager between May and August 2004. Research was carried out in the form of interviewing community food workers and identifying available information and resources. This review of existing projects and information gathering assisted to :-
| - Provide examples of good practice - Identify gaps - Develop a logo - Develop style of images and text - Choose appropriate recipes - Follow national messages - Ensure accuracy of text |
Circulation of the booklet was targeted and well controlled. Large numbers of copies were not left with organisations unless specifically requested. Initially a small sample of booklets were sent to each organisation asking that they request additional copies if required.
Booklets have been sent to many agencies involved with youth work for example, Community Cafes, Local food co ops, Healthy Living Centres, Housing Dept Youth Workers, Housing Associations, Barnardos 16+. In addition booklets were taken to key meetings including Lothian food groups, Youth Scotland conference and REHIS conference.
Edinburgh Community Food Initiative have used 1,200 FOOD4LIFE booklets in an annual food promotion activity, delivering it with bags of vegetables to clients of the 14 food co-ops throughout Edinburgh.
The Infectious Disease section of Environmental and Consumer Services have distributed the booklets when investigating food poisoning of young adults and the Housing Section has also done this when inspecting/licensing student flats.
2) FOOD4LIFE at Freshers Fairs
Freshers Fair stalls were booked with the four Universities in the city and contact made with those responsible for producing Freshers publications. An estimated 8-10,000 new students arrive to live in Edinburgh each year. Napier University included information in their "Handbook" and "Survival Guide".
Reduced rates were negotiated with the organisers for the stalls as payment for these had not been initially budgeted for.
Activities at Freshers Stalls
- Fruit and Veg taster sessions
- Promotion of FOOD4LIFE booklets
- Interaction with students on food issues
- Food safety and diet information
There already existed a number of people working for a variety of organisations who carried out ‘cooking skills’ training which can covered budgeting, buying ingredients, following recipes and preparing meals. The groups are undertaking this work because they have identified a need that is not being met by mainstream organisations.
Contact was made with a number of key organisations that work in this area. Early discussions indicated that they were enthusiastic in support of the project generally and would like to build on their existing food safety knowledge to allow them to be more confident in their presentation of the subject.
Food safety training allows these established and experienced people to then cascade their knowledge on to their client groups. This is an efficient use of resources, targets particular geographic areas or particular disadvantaged groups and creates added value to existing good practices - rather than trying instigate completely new training sessions.
Formal Food Hygiene training was arranged for five community workers to be completed by August 2004.This allowed four months for some short term evaluation of the impact of their training in the community. Individuals were offered different levels of training appropriate to their ability. Borders Consultancy, Telford College and Edinburgh Catering provided the training and evaluation of the Advanced Food Hygiene course was fed back to Borders College and REHIS. Contact has been maintained with the individuals to support and monitor their progress.
4) Youth Scotland Conference
Three FOOD4LIFE workshops were developed and presented at the Youth Scotland conference in November, giving food hygiene and healthy eating advice and practical exercises for youth workers to take back for use with their groups
Resources
The FOOD4LIFE project received a grant of £10,000 from Food Standards Agency Scotland, with some additional funding provided by Edinburgh City Council. Scotmid also donated money towards printing costs. NHS Lothian have recently funded the printing of a further 15,000 booklets which are now available for distribution.Scotmid provided fresh fruit and vegetables for 6 stall events at Freshers Fairs and competition prizes. Other resources such as stickers and balloons etc were obtained from Foodlink.
Grant funding was also spent on exhibition stand design, and design and production of the FOOD4LIFE booklet.
The Health Improvement Unit, as part of Services for Communities managed the project within the nine-month timescale set by the FSA. Two Environmental Health Officers coordinated the project with four student EHOs volunteering to assist at Freshers Fairs.
Evaluation
9,000 leaflets have been distributed to over 100 organisations and individuals.
Feedback from partner organisations and young adults has been very positive. 4,000 booklets were taken by students at the Freshers Fairs. Observation and anecdotal evidence indicates that students have retained the booklet for use in their residences
Seven individuals have received food hygiene training. To end of December 2004, an estimated 162 individuals have attended one or more cooking sessions with food hygiene as an integral part, some of these will have attended a course of up to 8 sessions.
Lessons learnt
In order to meet the tight deadlines for printing and distribution the development and production did not include as much discussion with young people as we would have liked, to obtain opinions about the proposed product at an early stage. It had been planned to carry out 1 - 2 focus group sessions with young people using a number of board designs in order to identify the final logo and styles to be used. This did not take place due to constraints on time and resources. It may be possible to include these sessions prior to any revisions. Although, overall we are pleased with the look of the booklet there are areas that we feel could be improved. In particular, pages 10 and 11 "You are what you eat" we are not happy with.
Respondents who use the booklet have also been critical of these pages, yet they have proved to be popular in schools settings! Identification of other possible areas for alteration are being discussed.
Napier University included FOOD4LIFE information in their "Handbook" and "Survival Guide". The other colleges were charging high rates for inclusion of pages of text or adverts and had deadlines for printing that were not compatible with our work plan. Is planned that some kind of reduced rate or linking up with a paying business customer can be arranged for future publications to help reduce these costs. Early planning will ensure printing deadlines can be met.
Update 2006
The FOOD4LIFE project was awarded continued funding until November 2006 with a £10,000 grant from the Food Standards Agency, £2000 from NHS Lothian, and £3000 from Scotmid.
35,000 booklets were requested by Fife to use with secondary school pupils as part of their Hungry for Success campaign. Dumfries and Galloway Environmental Health, health promotion team ordered 5,000 booklets to use in their district.
3 diplomas in advanced food hygiene, 2 intermediate and many elementary certificates were funded.
The Edinburgh Community Food Initiative Training Centre was approved by REHIS (Royal Environmental Health Institute Scotland) and now offers the Elementary course for both their organisation and clients.
The project was awarded a Bronze in the 2005 COSLA Excellence Awards, Health Improvement category.
Update 2009
FOOD4LIFE has been continued and developed on a rolling basis.
The booklet has recently been reprinted with some minor modifications. It is no longer funded by the Food Standards Agency although some funding was kindly received from NHS Lothian which allowed the reprint. It continues to be distributed through Edinburgh and surrounding areas as required. We have continued to attend the Freshers Fairs of Edinburgh, Napier and Heriot Watt Universities every year where the booklet and information is well received by a large number of students. It is also promoted at other events throughout the year.
Contact Details:
Contact Name: Fiona McFarlane
Job Title: Senior Officer
Address: Health Improvement Unit, Edinburgh City Council,
Email: healthimprovement@edinburgh.gov.uk
Telephone: 0131 529 3030
Other Resources:
This case study was updated 27/08/09