Gary Rhodes to teach healthy eating to children

Michelin-starred chef Gary Rhodes is launching an initiative to promote healthy eating in schools.

The Festival of Rhodes programme, which will be held at the beginning of June, involves educating kids about healthy eating. Rhodes has long campaigned for better food standards in school meals and decided to take a lead in educating children, parents and teachers about healthy eating.

To launch this initiative, Rhodes will be teaching the children of Foremarke School about ingredients, where they come from, how they are produced and how best to cook them to make the most of the flavours while still paying attention to health.

The chef will be working with Dubai-based firm Mastercook to provide school meals at Foremarke from September 2014. The menu will return to traditional school favourites like Sunday roasts, steak and kidney pudding, and toad-in-the-hole.

The ingredients will be mainly sourced from local farmers’ markets, and some will even come from the school’s own organic gardens where the children will be learning about growing and tending their own fruit and vegetables.

Foremarke will also be offering traditional home economics in the curriculum where the children will be cooking and following Rhodes’ own recipes.

From Year One upwards, children will have a traditional formal lunch each day, where they will be taught table manners alongside healthy eating and food appreciation.