Interreg

The Cool Food Pro team recently delivered a whole school assembly and workshop to year five and six pupils at Skelton Primary School. They taught pupils about the real value of food, highlighting the energy, water, people and fuel used to grow, process and transport food. The pupils were enthusiastic and made great contributions, sharing their knowledge about farming and climate change.

The pupils engaged in the session and were surprised to learn how much water was needed to produce different food items, especially for animal products such as beef burgers, cheese and eggs.

Later on, pupils worked in groups to complete a puzzle which revealed food waste facts. They were surprised to learn that for an 80g serving of peas to get on your plate it takes on average 26 litres of water and eight people. 204g of CO₂ is generated through its production, and if thrown away it costs £1.35 per kg wasted. If they matched the correct pieces, they could see a whole image of the food. When comparing foods, they found that animal products generally had the largest environmental footprint, with chocolate and strawberries not far behind.

The team also showed pupils how the school’s catering team monitor food waste using the Cool Food Pro calculator. The school is currently producing 4kg of plate waste per day. They aim to reduce this by approximately 10%, which would equate to a reduction of 2kg of Co₂e. and a £3 saving per service. These seemingly small savings would soon add up over a school week, term and school year.

This activity helped pupils to understand the real value of food, the resources which have gone into its production and the importance of not throwing it away. This awareness will help reduce plate waste in the school as pupils now better understand how they can help the planet by not putting food in the bin.