Food Standards Agency
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‘What's cooking?’ is a practical guide to setting up and running community and school food clubs. It's aimed at anyone who would like to help young people choose, cook and eat safe, healthy food.
It specifically encourages young people to:
What’s cooking? clubs help make children more aware of the importance of following a healthy diet, and provide them with the necessary skills to make more informed choices about the food they consume and how to follow correct food safety procedures.
The food competences addressed for ages 7 to 14 are:
The flexible approach of the guide means that clubs can be tailored to different themes and different audiences.
The core skills of communication, numeracy, problem solving, IT and working with others can all be covered. Concepts relating to food and health can be taught through society, science and technology, in home economics and health education.
Setting up your own What's cooking? club can bring children together and improve their confidence, while developing social and team working skills. Links can also be strengthened with others in the community, like further education colleges, children’s homes, primary care trusts, fitness centres, local chefs and facilities for older generations.
The Food Standards Agency is aware of the different curricula and has developed a Scottish and English version of the What’s Cooking? guide.
Evaluation of ‘What’s cooking?’ clubs in the North East of England and in Scotland found that allowing participants to work with food led to a positive change in behaviour in terms of skills and knowledge relating to food preparation and hygiene, and a greater willingness to try different foods. The evaluation also showed that participants continued to use the skills learned in the cooking clubs at home.
To read the evaluation document for clubs in the North East of England click here .
Download pdf
(pdf 278KB) What's cooking? guide: FSA Scotland A guide to setting up and running community and school food clubs in Scotland. Black and white, print-friendly versionDownload pdf
(pdf 1MB) What's cooking? guide: FSA Scotland A guide to setting up and running community and school food clubs in ScotlandDownload pdf
(pdf 3MB) What’s cooking? guide: England A guide to setting up and running community and school food clubs in EnglandDownload pdf
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