‘Meat4Schools – Seven is a lucky number’

The pilot project, which was launched last September, challenged the students taking part to profile the significance of Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assured (NIFQA) beef and lamb to our local industry and as part of a healthy balanced diet. They were also asked to come up with innovative red meat dishes featuring other ingredients that reflect the heritage of their own localities.

LMC Education and Consumer Promotions Manager, Lauren Hyde takes up the story:

“One of the key drivers for the competition was to encourage the use of NIFQA beef and lamb in schools, and to complement our existing schools programme. With this in mind we specifically targeted Food and Nutrition teachers and their students when drawing up the criteria for the project.

“We received a very encouraging number of entries, which made the selection of the seven winners a very difficult process. It was also very encouraging that the spread of the entries encompassed a large cross section of schools in both urban and rural areas across Northern Ireland. The standard of entries was extremely high and it was good to see the enthusiasm and interest of pupils wanting to cook and enjoy beef and lamb.”

Each of the seven winning schools received £100 of NIFQA beef and lamb. The beef comprised a mix of rump steaks and mince while the lamb component was made up of leg steaks. The meat was supplied in collaboration with ABP Food Group, and the selections of cuts were chosen with the aim of encouraging students and teachers to experience the versatility of beef and lamb.

Lauren continued:

“In addition, the seven winning schools have each received a commemorative plaque and educational goody bags with recipes and resources to aid students in their studies. Many students choose to cook with beef and lamb as part of their practical examinations, and we hope that we can encourage them to take these recipes home and tell others about the benefits of (NIFQA) beef and lamb.”

The seven winning schools are:

Killicomaine Junior High School, Portadown

St Mary’s High School, Newry

Newtownhamilton High School, Newry

Arvalee School, Omagh

Longstone Special School, Dundonald

St. Killian’s College, Carnlough

Clounagh Junior High School, Portadown

Hilary Strain, a Food and Nutrition teacher at Longstone Special School, commented:

“The Meat4Schools competition allowed me to focus on the benefits of local, farm quality assured beef and lamb and its place in a healthy diet.

“I was able to link all of this to the Eatwell guide, which is a compulsory part of the key stage 3 and 4 curriculum.

“The competition also gave the pupils a chance to be creative and experiment with different flavours and ingredients. It is great to increase pupil awareness of buying local and to aid their development of life skills for the future.”

Carol Alexander, a Food and Nutrition teacher at Newtownhamilton High School added:

“The Meat4Schools competition provided pupils with the opportunity to develop a recipe using red meat.  This will encourage school children to actually cook this dish and further develop their practical cookery skills in line with the curriculum.

“It also required the pupils to consider the benefits of including red meat as part of a healthy diet together with recognising the excellent NIFQA scheme in place here in Northern Ireland.”

LMC Chief Executive Officer Ian Stevenson confirmed that the Meat4Schools competition will be launched again in September 2020, adding:

“We want to build on the success of what has been achieved over the past few months. LMC is totally committed to delivering a positive message to school children regarding the benefits of red meat as part of a balanced diet.

He continued:

“LMC has been working closely with home economics’ and food and nutrition teachers for the past 20 years. In 2019 we hosted a total of 350 school demonstrations.

“The Commission is widely recognised as a body that is totally independent and impartial when it comes to giving dietary advice on beef and lamb.

“We also hold workshops for teachers, thereby allowing them to improve their own skills when it comes to handling, cutting and cooking red meat.”

“One of the most important benefits identified from the Meat4Schools project is the fact that it is allowing many children to taste lamb for the first time. And we want to build on that for the future.”