Harrison offers food education to fifteen London schools in partnership with Chefs Adopt a School

Thirty pupils in year three at St Saviour’s CE Primary School in Lambeth tested their taste buds – and their other senses – at a recent workshop delivered by Harrison Catering Services.

Craft Trainer & Development Chef Peter Davis led the workshop, which has been developed by the Chefs Adopt a School Trust, offering the pupils different food samples to view, touch, smell and taste and then challenging them to describe what they observed. In addition to learning about the four different areas where taste is sensed on the tongue, the effect of food on the body and overall health was also discussed.

Chefs Adopt a School was founded in 1990 by the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts. It sends chefs into schools to deliver food education to children – from where food comes from and how it is grown, through to how to cook it. The programme covers taste, healthy eating, nutrition and hygiene, as well as a recently added front of house session where pupils lay a table and enjoy a meal.

Sara Jayne Stanes OBE, Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts and Chefs Adopt a School, commented: ‘It is absolutely fantastic to see the work of Chefs Adopt a School being delivered by Peter Davis and Harrison Catering Services. I never tire of seeing children educated about food and to have the reach of our work multiplied by Harrison is wonderful. The company’s “adoption” of the Chefs Adopt a School programme is testament to their commitment to children and their future and we are thrilled to be working together to help change the lives of young people through food’.

Harrison has recently increased its commitment to Chefs Adopt a School by having 15 of its chefs and catering professionals trained to deliver the sessions. Each chef will ‘adopt’ a primary school in the London Boroughs where Harrison provides the school catering and will deliver one workshop per term during an academic year to the same year group. In the second and subsequent years, the chef will repeat the same three workshops to the same year group, thus reaching a new intake of children each year.

Gareth Harrison, Joint Managing Director of Harrison, said: ‘Educating our children about food and how to feed themselves well is vital to their overall health and future development. As a caterer, we are in a privileged position to do that, and we take that responsibility very seriously. We’re proud to be working with Chefs Adopt a School on this important initiative’.

Miss Alison Honeysett, Deputy Headteacher of St Saviour’s, said: ‘We are delighted to be a part of the Chefs Adopt a School programme. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the tasting and sensory session and are much looking forward to the next session. It is important that children are taught to make healthy food choices and the programme provides a valuable insight into the different healthy foods that are available to them. School dinners are popular at St Saviour’s and the pupils enjoy a variety of delicious and nutritious foods’.