Food - a fact of life

New BNF website
The Foundation is delighted to announce the launch of the new, refreshed BNF website. The website has been given a fresh new look and boasts the following features: improved search functionality, intuitive navigation and updated information. The site now features seven sections, providing a wealth of information about the importance of nutrition, health and physical activity, at different levels, to a variety of audiences.
To take a look at the new BNF site now, Click here

Active Kids Get Cooking Special Challenge 2010
The Active Kids Get Cooking Special Challenge 2010 has been launched! The details are as follows:

‘In an ideal world we would shop wisely, eat well and sustain resources for the future.’
Impress your friends by designing and making a sustainable spread which shows your resourcefulness.

You may consider:
- growing your own ingredients;
- using local/regional foods;
- choosing seasonal foods;
- buying products which are value for money;
- reducing food waste;
- using leftovers;
- reducing the environmental impact.

A special selection of resources has been produced to help you introduce the Special Challenge to pupils, these include: Guides, presentations, worksheets and a cards activity.

For all the Special Challenge details, Click here

Get ready for Farmhouse Breakfast Week – 24 – 30 January 2010
The Farmhouse Breakfast Week campaign showcases the importance of breakfast and raises awareness of the nutritional benefits of eating a healthy breakfast, as part of a balanced diet and active lifestyle. For further information, Click here

Colourful cards
We have recently released 12 new activity session for children aged 3-5 years. These sessions cover healthy eating, cooking and where food comes from. Amongst these new resources are lots of colourful cards. Some are designed to form activities, whilst others are for discussion and display. Why not have a look at these three sets of cards to get you started?
Food images - 24 x A5 images of foods from different food groups.
Getting ready to cook display cards – illustrated cards to remind children what they need to do the get ready to cook.
Where food comes from cards – 16 x A4 images of foods and their sources, e.g. an apple and apples growing on a tree.

New resources for Promethean interactive whiteboards
The British Nutrition Foundation has produced five Promethean flipcharts to support the teaching of healthy eating in primary schools. The flipcharts have been developed to support resources on the Food – a fact of life website, but can also be used independently to help support general food and healthy eating teaching. The flipcharts are entitled – Food, Healthy eating, Composite dishes, Energy, and Nutrients. Food and Healthy eating are aimed at younger primary school children aged around 5-7 years, Composite dishes is aimed at children age 7-9 years and Energy and Nutrients are aimed at children around 9-11 years.
To find out more about these resources, Click here

Winter warmers
There are a whole host of simple, delicious recipes available on the Food – a fact of life website. Most of the recipes are also available as videos so you can see how it is done before you get started. Why not make some tasty soup with your class? You could also make some bread rolls or soda bread to accompany the soup. Have a look at the recipes and videos below:

Chunky vegetable soup:
Recipe
Video

Bread:
Recipe
Video

Teaching food in primary school?
We have three posters to help support food teaching in your school. The posters are:
* A-Z (a food alphabet);
* Get Ready to Cook (helps children get ready to cook);
* Farm to Fork (looking at where food comes from).
For this month only, these posters are available at the special rate of £4, a saving of £3.05. To order your set, Click here

Free food training
With the focus on the current and future health of children, their food knowledge and cooking skills, now is an excellent time to sign up for your free food training. This opportunity is open to all primary schools in England, and covers the following aspects: healthy eating, food hygiene and safety, setting up food activities in the primary classroom, cooking skills and practical activities. The course directly supports the curriculum, as well as aspects of child health and promotion. To find out more, and request training, Click here

Secondary

Licence to Cook Training and Pupil Survey
The Licence to Cook team has so far trained over 2,500 maintained secondary schools in England. Once trained, teachers are issued with a unique login for their school to access the programme through the Licence to Cook online resources, which include detailed lesson plans, recipes, PowerPoint presentations, worksheets and differentiated online tutorials for pupils. Every secondary school in England is entitled to attend free training and the team will continue to offer training events over the coming year. Have you attended? To find out more, Click here

If you use the Licence to Cook programme, please help us find out what pupils think of their experience. The survey provides valuable information about how much pupils feel they have learned and improved their cooking skills and understanding about healthy eating and wise food shopping. Perhaps you can ask your pupils to complete the online survey, which is anonymous, for homework. The survey consists of about 30 questions and takes around 30 minutes. Feel free to explain the questions to the pupils and clarify for them, this is not a test. To participate in the survey, see below.
PDF Copy
Pupil survey

The role of fat in the diet
We are delighted that Professor Tom Sanders, Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at King's College London, has agreed to deliver the Annual BNF Lecture on the topic of 'The role of fat in the diet – quantity, quality and sustainability'. The lecture will take place at 3pm, on Wednesday 25 November 2009, Royal College of Physicians, London.

Professor Sanders is a member of BNF's Board of Trustees, as well as one of the Foundation's Scientific Governors. The lecture will be of interest to sixth-form students, university undergraduates and all those with an interest in nutrition. Free tickets are issued on a first come, first served basis. To register for tickets, please email your contact details to: c.price@nutrition.org.uk