Children at Bythams Primary School won the schools food challenge, run by the East of England Agricultural Society, by creating and designing a new soup which was on sale at the Smithfield livestock show
Launched through the Society’s new Kids Country education programme, the task was for schools around the region to come up with an original soup recipe with art work and a description to entice farmers to tuck in.
The finalists were invited to the East Of England Showground’s professional kitchen where they were given a behind the scenes taste of what is involved in feeding hundreds of people at one time. The children were each allocated a chef to convert their idea for a good soup into a reality and found the experience very exciting.
‘Chunky Funky Chicken’ was declared the winner by outselling the others, but was under competition from ‘Santa’s Spicy Surprize’ and ‘Blackbird Soup’.
Claire Duncan, Headteacher of Bythams Primary School said
Our countryside ambassadors were thrilled to hear that they had won the first ever annual winter warmer soup challenge 2012. With our fantastic adult volunteers, Mrs Lovesey and Mrs Van Biljion 5 Kids Country pupils designed and tested lots of soup! They decided to enter a recipe which used ingredients local to our school and Chunky Funky Chicken soup was created
Claire added
The pupils particularly enjoyed developing the recipe in the East of England Show Ground kitchens with Chef Richard. They visited the Smithfield Festival where the soup was sold, learning lots about the connections between their soup and the countryside. As a small school we feel very privileged to be a part of the Kids Country programme provided by the East of England Agricultural Society. Our countryside ambassadors and their parents are very proud that they are able to share their experiences with the other pupils at our school – and everyone has enjoyed being taste testers for our winning Funky Chunky Chicken soup
Inspiration behind the project was the Showground’s Education Manager Sandra Laurisden, who said
We want to give children reasons to think about where food comes from and why quality matters. So many children do not get chance to cook these days that we look for ways to give them a new experience in a fun way
The lucky winners are pictured receiving their trophy from Jane Tae who was one of the judges. Mrs Tate said
It was great to see the children in action and having so much fun in the kitchens. We were impressed by how seriously they approached the challenge and the soups produced were lovely. I am not surprised they sold well
The Kids Country programme for 2013 has just been circulated to schools and anyone wishing to be part of it should contact Sandra Laurisden at the Showground.
