For the first time, the education programme run by the Christchurch Food Festival Education Trust is this year visiting all primary, junior and secondary schools in the Borough to promote healthy eating with the financial support of Dorset Health and Wellbeing Partnership and the Communities for Health Programme. The funding is to help to reduce childhood obesity in the 8-11 year age group.

The programme launched on Tuesday 19 January when the Food Festival’s president, Mary Reader, accompanied local chefs Ian Hewitt and Jamie Fanger to The Priory School where they demonstrated dishes which show the influence of immigration on English cuisine.

Dishes included hummus, cucumber and feta salsa and pitta bread, showing the Greek influence, ginger and spring onion stir fry to show the Chinese influence and seafood crepes to show how the French have affected our cuisine. Middle Eastern influences were shown with spiced oranges and raisins.

The team will go on to visit Highcliffe St Mark’s Junior School on 26 January where they will demonstrate food from France and Christchurch Junior School on 1 February when food from Egypt will be on the menu, as it will at St Joseph's Primary School on 9 February.

Somerford Primary School will be treated to food from Iran on 11 February, Burton Primary School will have food from Egypt on 25 February, while Mudeford Junior School will have a selection of food from the region of the Alps on 11 March.

Following a successful venture last year when Mudeford Junior School pupils had ‘hands-on’ sessions where they themselves prepared and cooked some dishes, the same thing will be happening again at Mudeford and also at two other schools which have the right sort of facilities – Highcliffe St Marks and Burton Primary.

Later in the year the three secondary schools in the Borough will start their programme which will lead to the final of the Junior Cook of the Year competition to be held on the first Friday of the Food & Wine Festival (7 May).

Mary Reader said: “It’s very encouraging that all of the schools in the Borough have taken up the offer for us to visit them and demonstrate some interesting variations of healthy dishes. We always try to make our programme relevant to the curriculum of the school which is why we’ve come up with dishes from these different countries. We are very grateful to have the additional financial help from Dorset Health and Wellbeing Partnership and the Communities for Health Programme, as this has allowed us to employ more chefs and become more effective with our healthy eating programme.

“We find that there are usually some children who have not come across some of the ingredients before or may be a little reluctant to try some dishes. However, most of them are very keen to taste the food when they see it being cooked and find that they actually like the dishes. They are always keen to have the recipes to take home! If we can influence them to try healthier food then we feel we have been a success.”