Blog: How I’m passing on my love of food to children

Sharon’s classes give many of these young children their first experience in the kitchen. Lots of primary schools lack the facilities to provide hands-on food education and many are without staff with the confidence to run cooking sessions. Often children tell us that they don’t have the opportunity to cook at home, so Sharon’s session are always enthusiastically received. 

Sharon uses her visits to schools as an opportunity to train teaching staff to lead their own food lessons, so that the learning can continue once she leaves the school. 

Having now been with SFM for over six months, we took the opportunity to speak with Sharon about her journey into becoming a food teacher in schools, the importance of teaching children about food from a young age, and the vital reforms we need to see to embed food education into the curriculum. 

What inspired you to share your love of cooking with others? 

Growing up, cooking was something my family loved doing. Both my mum and stepdad are excellent cooks, and they used to cook most of our meals from scratch. I remember waking up on Saturday mornings to the lovely smells of Italian and French food. I think that’s all had an influence on me. 

In 2010, having just returned from living in Italy for a few years, I had the opportunity to change careers, and decided to follow my passion - teaching food. Since then, I’ve taught cooking skills to ex-offenders through a criminal justice charity and at a further education college, but I really wanted to teach in schools, so I could pass on that love and excitement about food to children. 

The habits children learn from a young age carry on through to adulthood, so encouraging healthy eating habits as early as possible is key. It’s about giving them the opportunity to try new things and teaching basic cooking skills, so they can make themselves and their families a tasty, nutritious meal when they grow up. 

Can you speak a bit about your role? What do you do on most days? 

I feel very lucky to be doing a job that I love. It’s really varied, but I’m mainly in schools, teaching children about food, where it comes from and how delicious it can be. 

If I’m in a primary school classroom where they haven't got any kitchen facilities, then it's a no-cook session, where the children work together; snipping, cutting, blending and mixing whilst using all their senses to experience new foods. So, we’ve made recipes like beetroot hummus, smoked mackerel pate, pico de gallo, halloumi vegetable kebabs with tzatziki and seasonal salads. 

It’s mainly plant-based using seasonal vegetables. Where possible, I ask teachers what students are studying in the curriculum, and if they say, for example, Ancient Greece, we might try a Greek mezze. 

If I'm not in a school hosting a cooking session, then I'm either thinking about recipes to introduce, buying ingredients or speaking to schools to see what equipment they have or if there are any allergies to work around. 

I’ve also just completed cooking workshops in secondary schools, helping students come up with tasty pastes, as part of our Fresh Enterprise programme with Belazu.