EU Funding and How to Support the

Acquisition of Skills and Knowledge Among

College Catering & Hospitality Students

Author: Dee John, Executive Director, Corporate

College and Megan Saunders, Project

Coordinator, Local Food Project

Prepared for: AOC Conference

Date: July 2014

Today’s Session

• EU Funding Support Locally

• The Project

• Sustainability in the Catering Curriculum

• Actions Highbury have taken

EU Funding Support Locally

• Passion for food + Gap in curriculum + Wessex

Enterprise support

• ERDF funded through INTERREG IVa

• Jan 2013 - June 2015

• DEAL Project (Economic Development through Local

Food)

• Match funded by Highbury College

• 11 project partners between Southern England and

Northern France

Aims and Objectives

• Understand context & challenges on both sides of the

Channel

• Identify good practice

• Develop methods for research & diagnosis of current

supply & demand

• Implement awareness raising actions & training to key

local stakeholders

• Work with the supply chain, help prepare producers &

suppliers to meet growing demand

“Support sustainable economic development

through thriving local food economies.”

How is Highbury involved in the project?

• Leader of outcomes related to training:

– Students

– Community and families

– Policy makers

– Producers, artisans and food businesses

– Food Service Industry

What has it allowed us to do?

• Tutorials

• Trips

• Teaching materials

• Special events

• Community Outreach and Engagement

• Employer Engagement

• Supplier Engagement

• 31% of our personal

impact on the climate is

due to food and farming

• Think about food across

5 thematic areas:

– health and wellbeing,

– environmental

sustainability,

– local economic prosperity,

– resilient communities

(skills and access to

assets),

– fairness in the food chain

Small changes add up!

• Food Waste

• Food Miles

• Recycling

• Water Use

• Energy Use

• Seasonal and Local Produce

• Independent Businesses

• Communicating Messages

• Fair Wages

Waste

• WRAP estimates that UK Hospitality businesses

pay around £1.02 billion a year buying food that is

subsequently wasted.

What is ‘Local Food’?

• No one definition

• Can mean different things to different people

• 5 miles, 30 miles, 100 miles?!

• Organic or industrial?

• Fresh or processed?

Embedding into curriculum

Unit 701 – Investigating the catering and hospitality industry

• Key influences, social trends, tourism etc - Demand for locally sourced food,

grass-fed meats, free-range poultry.

• Identify what the assurance scheme labels mean

Unit 202 – Food Safety in Catering

• Deliveries - Journey of food from farm to fork, Traceability, Food miles and CO2

impact

• Rotation: Food Waste Management

Unit 704 – Healthier Foods and Special Diets

• Benefits of healthier ingredients and types, Fresh produce in season, Food

origins, Organic vs conventional

Unit 705 – Catering operations, costs and menu planning

• Identify trends in food production operations - Food Policy, imports/exports,

Fair prices to farmers

• Menus - State origins of food, Seasonality, Sourcing and purchasing,

Local options

What We’re Doing

Catering Student Visits

“I’ve never been this close to a cow before!”

– Level 3 Catering student

Foraging for Food: The Seasons

Exploring

Food and

Farming

Artisan Producers

The Journey of Food:

Warehousing and Distribution

Exploring

Influences on

Taste

Creating the Portsmouth

Food Partnership

The first ever Food

Policy Council was

created over 30

years ago in the US.

“We’re better, connected”

• 32 Member Cities

• Alliance of Public, Private and 3rd

Sector organisations

• Recognises good practice over last

15-20 years across UK

• Help people and places to share

challenges, explore practical

solutions and develop best practice

Teaching Resources Toolkit

• 79 pages on sustainability, local food and

topical issues

• Lesson Plans

• Teaching Notes

• Activity Sheets

• Fact Sheets

• Links to interactive online tools

• Reading lists

• Links to videos and documentaries

Only £95!

Take home today or by mail!

Any questions?

Thank you for listening!