LMC completes series of teacher workshops

LMC education and consumer promotions manager, Sarah Toland and LMC marketing placement student Jo-Anne McCay (second and third from left) pictured with teachers attending the workshop at the Royal School Dungannon

The series of workshops were organised by the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) and delivered in association with the British Nutrition Foundation to help develop teachers’ skills and confidence when working with Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assured (NIFQA) beef and lamb.

Commenting LMC education and consumer promotions manager, Sarah Toland said: “Over the past few months the LMC team have delivered workshops in Magherafelt, Belfast and Dungannon. Bookings for the workshops filled up in record time, demonstrating in a very practical sense teachers' enthusiasm to secure a place and develop their skills in preparing and cooking red meat.”

In the lead up to the workshops LMC worked closely with the British Nutrition Foundation to ensure workshop content was carefully tailored to align with current post-primary teaching specifications.

LMC teacher workshop held at Magherafelt High School

Sarah continued: “Each workshop, while practical in nature also provided a theoretical base of knowledge which complemented the learning outcomes for post-primary pupils. Topics covered at the workshops included, how beef and lamb fit into a healthy diet and the important role the NIFQA Scheme plays in producing traceable, sustainable, world class beef and lamb.”

Frances Meek, British Nutrition Foundation education services manager added: “We were pleased to be invited to support LMC in the delivery of red meat skills workshops. Ensuring teachers are confident and competent in practical food skills is key to delivering practical cookery classes in schools. The workshops allowed teachers to creatively explore how to prepare, cook and present a number of beef and lamb recipes, including lamb curry and beef burgers. Information was also shared on the contribution red meat can make to a healthy, balanced diet.”

Teacher feedback on the series of workshops has been pleasing with one teacher who attended stating: “The workshops provided a great opportunity to meet other HE teachers, share ideas and get information about the invaluable resources that are available.”

This was echoed by another teaching colleague who said, “These workshops are fantastic, a great opportunity to refresh enthusiasm for new practical ideas and to talk to the LMC team.”

Teachers attending a LMC workshop at St Louise’s Comprehensive College, Belfast

Concluding Sarah said: “Provision of red meat workshops complement our comprehensive post primary education programme. They provide a basis for knowledge transfer and enable us to support Food and Nutrition teachers in a practical way, while encouraging them to use and promote NIFQA beef and lamb in the classroom.”

LMC is currently working with the British Nutrition Foundation to plan and develop new content and recipes for a second series of red meat skills teacher workshops which are planned for delivery during the latter part of this year. Further updates on dates and locations will be shared in due course. Keep an eye out on food4life.org.uk and LMC’s social media pages for updates.