Stirrin' Stuff
Stirrin' Stuff, aims to get more children cooking and families sitting back around the dinner table to eat. It campaigns for basic nutrition and simple cookery skills as a part of the primary school curriculum. It runs interactive children’s cookery demonstrations and workshops through the UK, usually free to the children who attend, thereby ensuring an eclectic mix of children and attempting to reach the socially excluded.
Aims and Objectives
To encourage children to make healthier food choices by cooking with real, raw ingredients. Children are made aware of the importance of a balanced diet while developing culinary skills that will last a life time. A myriad of food issues are raised during a workshop and demonstration from fair trade, food labelling to convenience diets that can be high in salt, sugar and fat.
Partner Organisations
Stirrin’Stuff is in the process of becoming a charity. We work in partnership with the Big Lottery Fund (through out of school clubs), primary care trusts and the food and drink industry (sponsorship). We also work in conjunction with Healthy School initiatives ‘Healthy eating days’
Methodology
Stirrin' Stuff has evolved from a short term funding initiative ‘Welcome to Well Being’ award.The workshops and demonstrations are aimed at primary school children but we have worked with senior schools in partnership with Quality Meat Scotland. We have also worked with older children with special needs. Presentations are in schools, at food fairs and agricultural shows.
Children enjoy hands on cooking during workshops and a large number do so during interactive demonstrations, including:
- 'Stirrin' Away from an upset tummy' (kitchen hygiene)
- 'Stirrin' Away from hurt' (safety in the kitchen)
- 'Stirrin' Together' (teamwork in the kitchen).
All the simple recipes used were developed using real, raw ingredients.. At the end of each demonstration the children have the opportunity to taste their creations developing a 'tongues not eyes' for taste strategy. The children leave with a Nutrition Mission CD-ROM, kindly donated by the British Heart Foundation and often water (Highland Spring).
Evaluation
The children at the out of school clubs evaluate the workshops, as do the staff. Stirrin’Stuff use the information from these evaluations to improve the workshops.
The simple act of preparing a meal can foster natural conversation and interactions. Such benefits can far outweigh a little extra mess. Home cooking is one route to a healthier diet, but the school / food fair is an alternate route. The best news is that the children love cooking and the peeling, stirring, kneading, measuring and pouring have an invisible added ingredient - it’s called learning - and lasts a lifetime
Resources needed
- Venue - School hall
- Facilities - Water, electricity, access to wash basins
- Equipment - Basic cooking utensils
- Other materials - Handgel, ingredients
- Training materials - Recipes, checklists
- Staff - Volunteers and club employees or teachers (one adult to every four children)
Funding
The set up grant was a one off and sourcing continuation funding is a perennial problem. Funding comes from the Big Lottery through out of school clubs, sponsored equipment ( eg Magimix) and food industry sponsorship.
Lessons Learnt
Time is always a factor – we run out! It is a zappy presentation, hopefully throwing out lots and lots of messages (different ones hit different children).The demo needs lots of support, for a slick performance (donkey work i.e. the washing up and lugging of equipment from venue to venue). We really need helpers but additional funding is a problem and I am loathed to push volunteers.
By working in partnerships with PCTs, out of school clubs and the food and drink industry with tenacity you can find funding and reach an eclectic mix of children. "We believe that we need to ensure that every family, regardless of income can have fun in the kitchen. In an ideal world cookery would be on the primary school curriculum."
Future Developments
Stirrin’Stuff will soon do a presentation to a Scottish health board and we hope that this will result in a pilot of mini workshops, in partnership with the Scottish women’s rural. Fi Bird is writing a children's cookery book which will hopefully encourage more families to cook together.