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Meat matters, by Margaret Stewart
For kids brought up on the farm it's easy to make the link between what you eat and where it originates, but it's more difficult for youngsters living on inner city housing estates who have never actually seen a cow, sheep or a pig.
QMS has been steadily building its portfolio of activities to promote the benefits of eating red meat as part of a balanced diet, and with Meaty Matters, a new initiative about to launch in Scotland's primary schools, it aims to redress the balance on this issue through the schools network. Margaret Stewart explains…
Meaty Matters is an interactive education pack which aims to raise the awareness of the importance of red meat in a healthy diet. Written especially for primary-school children, it considers how cattle, sheep and pigs are looked after on their journey from the farm, and includes exercises in subjects such as basic nutrition, animal husbandry, animals in religion and a look back in history to rural life in Fife over a century ago.
The emphasis is on making learning fun and the pack includes exciting worksheets and activities to challenge pupils of all ages, and even encourage teachers to think more about farming, the role of the farmer as custodian of our countryside and as the primary producer of the food we eat.
QMS brought in the expertise of the Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET) to produce Meaty Matters. QMS and RHET worked closely with schools, farmers and the red-meat industry to ensure that the correct messages were incorporated in the final product. Farmers and their families are the stars of the film clips as they explain how proper care for the animals makes better meat for us. There is a no-holds-barred approach to the subject but the serious issues are dealt with sensitively, and teachers are given the option at all stages to bypass certain sections if they wish.
The initiative has already been piloted in eight Scottish schools in Perth & Kinross, Dundee, Dumfries & Galloway, Highlands, Midlothian, Argyll & Bute, and Falkirk. The response has been very positive and the pack went into full production for a launch at the Royal Highland Show in June, to be distributed to every Scottish primary school in the autumn term.
For chefs involved in local school initiatives, Meaty Matters could be an equally versatile resource which will help bridge the knowledge gap about the real origin of our foods, and it could help chefs encourage children to make simple meat dishes or even home-made burgers containing only fresh products. With other hot topics such as healthy eating, sustainability the important chain of production that brings food to the dinner plate, there has never been a better time to introduce such a programme.
To order a copy of Meaty Matters, contact Isobel-Anne Johnston at QMS on 0131 472 4040, or visit www.qmscotland.co.uk for more information.
This article has been edited from the original. To view the feature in full, please see Catering in Scotland magazine. To join our database, go to Media Pack on this website and click on Subscribe.
