Too Many Cooks
foodlink Communicating Food Safety Award winner
FSA Food Hygiene and Nutrition grant winner 2005-06
In 2004 Oldham MBC won FSA funding to produce a play about the disastrous consequences of food poisoning. The play was produced by Oldham Theatre Workshop who used professional actors and toured in Oldham High schools in November that year. It was really successful and schools asked us to return the following year but due to time and financial implications this wasn't possible. Further funding from the FSA allowed us to turn it into a DVD. A teaching pack was produced by EHOs to accompany the DVD and the DVD was taken into schools during Food Safety Week 2006. It was equally successful.
Aims and Objectives
The objective was to educate pupils about the importance of food hygiene in a way that they would understand and be interested in, so that they would remember it and take the message home with them. Many of these pupils will make food for themselves, families and friends and some will work in the food industry at some time.
Partner Organisations
The idea came about in a food team meeting. Oldham Theatre Workshop were contacted to discuss ways of doing it. The Health Protection Agency were contacted for advice on which food poisoning to concentrate on. It was their idea to use Guillian Barre. Food officers went through the script with the writer and suggested technical changes. They also attended the auditions and were allowed to give opinions on the actors chosen. They also attended rehearsals. It was this close working partnership that enabled the food safety message to be delivered effectively.
Methodology
The writer of the piece made it popular with pupils because it was a story about young people. The pupils bonded with the characters before the food safety message was delivered and by this time they were hooked in a soap like story and were interested to know what happened to the characters and why it happened. The DVD and resource material was left at all the high schools and is a timeless piece that can be used year after year.
Evaluation
An evaluation was carried out at the schools by asking the children questions about what they had learnt. The response from classes were very good. Teachers all commented on how effective they thought it had been and how useful it will be in the future. One teacher commented on how one pupil that participated in class discussion after the DVD had never done so before.
Resources
Funding came from grants from the FSA. It involved one member of staff mainly and was lead by the principal officer. Other officers were involved during food safety week.
Lessons Learnt
It was a very successful project that worked because of the partnership between Theatre Workshop and Environmental Health and the funding from the FSA.
The DVD and resource pack can be viewed on the Oldham Council web site http://www.oldham.gov.uk/too-many-cooks.htm. Copies of the DVD and material are available free of charge from Oldham food safety section and have been sent out to interested authorities across the country.
Contact Details
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