AS winners of a Scotland-wide competition, Primary seven pupils from Kirn Primary School in Dunoon claimed their prize: a special in-house cookery demonstration.
The pupils entered the Eco-Schools Scotland ‘One Planet Picnic’ competition and as part of their prize chef Fi Bird, will visit the young winners along with the sponsors of the prize, Quality Meat Scotland (QMS).
QMS is the public body responsible for marketing Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Specially Selected Pork as well as promoting meat as part of a healthy, balanced diet.
QMS health and education coordinator, Jennifer Robertson, is a qualified dietitian and her visit to the school will add to what the pupils have already learned about healthy eating.
She will lead an interactive discussion on where our food comes from, healthy eating and the benefits of including red meat in the diet.
This will be followed by the hands-on demonstration with chef, Fi Bird, who will cook two healthy red meat dishes which all the pupils can taste and potentially replicate with mum and dad at home.
Jennifer explained how impressed she was with the winning entry: “Primary seven decided to hold a picnic for all the staff in the school and they meant everyone; teachers, the school catering staff, the cleaners, office staff and their local lollipop man.”
“The catering staff very kindly let them use the school kitchen to prepare their picnic food which consisted of sandwiches, salad, fruit smoothies and the pupils’ very own ‘Kirnie Birnie Soup’.”
The pupils served all the guests including the children from the school’s nursery class.
Ellen Morton, education spokesperson for Argyll and Bute Council commented on how entering the competition complemented how the school encourages pupil involvement, the use of local and seasonal produce and cutting down on waste.
“They worked really hard on the final entry using photographs showing them harvesting local vegetables, preparing the food, serving our guests and enjoying the day. They also produced beautifully illustrated recipe cards for their Cregg Sandwiches, Berry Best Smoothies, the Salmon Salad and the really tasty Kirnie Birnie Soup.”
Eco-Schools Scotland is the flagship education programme of Keep Scotland Beautiful and Programme Manager, Kate Campbell, explained how the initiative encourages schools throughout Scotland to improve their environmental performance.
“The ‘Food and the Environment’ topic, funded by the Scottish Government, aims to inspire our young people to reconnect with where their food comes from, discover local, seasonal crops and dishes and consider the environmental impacts of our food choices.”
“The entry from Kirn Primary School was excellent and showed how everyone had fun preparing for and enjoying their ‘One Planet Picnic’.”
ENDS
Caption: Primary seven prize winners with (in the back row left to right) Chef Fi Bird, QMS health and education coordinator, Jennifer Robertson, and Elaine Stewart, Primary seven class teacher
For further press information, contact QMS Communications Executive, Doreen Graham on 0131 472 4112.
Editors notes:
- Scotland (QMS) is the public body responsible for working with the Scottish red meat sector to improve its efficiency and quality and maximise its contribution to Scotland’s economy.
- QMS markets on behalf of the Scottish red meat industry through the PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) Scotch Beef and Scotch Lamb brands and the Specially Selected Pork brand.
- QMS undertakes a range of health and education activities. The aim of these initiatives, along with our free publications, is to encourage awareness of the importance of red meat in a healthy, balanced diet and an understanding of where food comes from.
- QMS offers free education sessions and interactive cookery demonstrations to both primary and secondary schools.
- Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Specially Selected Pork are produced with whole-chain assurance through six schemes which offer consumers the guarantee that livestock has been born, reared and slaughtered in Scotland.
- QMS also promotes meat as part of a healthy, balanced diet and runs the Scotch Beef Club for restaurants and the Scotch Butchers’ Club for high quality establishments that sell, clearly identify and promote Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Specially Selected Pork.
- www.scotchbeefandlamb.com
- www.scotchbeefclub.org
- www.scotchbutchersclub.org
- Eco-Schools is a programme of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) administered by Keep Scotland Beautiful as a full member of FEE.
- Eco-Schools Scotland is supported by the Scottish Government’s Smarter Scotland and Greener Scotland Directorates.
- For more information on Eco Schools Scotland please visit www.ecoschoolsscotland.org
- Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) is an environmental charity which fundraises to protect, preserve and enhance the environment of town and country in Scotland for the benefit of the public. Keep Scotland Beautiful administers the People and Places, Keep Scotland Tidy, Blue Flag and Seaside Award, and the Eco-Schools Scotland environmental programmes along with the Sustainable Scotland Network, Climate Challenge Fund and Going Carbon Neutral Stirling campaigns. Keep Scotland Tidy is supported by the Scottish Government through its Zero Waste Scotland Programme. Further information can be found at www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org Scottish Charity number SC030332.
MEDIA RELEASE posted by Quality Meat Scotland. You too can post media releases (aka press releases) on allmediascotland.com. For more information, email here.
Contact: Doreen Graham
Phone: 0131 472 4112
Email: dgraham@qmscotland.co.uk
Website: http://www.qmscotland.co.uk
