All the right ingredients

Agri Aware's new project teaches TY students how to source the best local produce and cook it up into healthy, nutritious meals

FOOD! GLORIOUS FOOD! For some of us it's one of the best parts of life. But do you know how many calories you should have in one day? Do you care where your pears came from? Do you even know what a glycemic index is? If the answer is no to all of the above, you're not alone.

While our awareness of issues surrounding food and nutrition has grown to almost religious proportions in recent times, that doesn't mean many of us aren't still happy to munch on a Stinger bar and wash it down with a fizzy drink for lunch. And I'm not just referring to young people.

Many of Ireland's students know more about nutrition than their parents. In most transition years, students will do at least one module in food, nutrition and health and safety. Those taking home economics in senior cycle will be even more up to speed on their dietary needs. Paradoxically, though, awareness of the importance of nutrition and cases of obesity and anorexia among young people appear to be growing simultaneously.

This year 500 TY groups from 150 schools got involved in a project which encourages students to learn about healthy food and what's available in their locality. Our Food - Your Way!is run by Agri Aware, the charitable trust which works to "improve the image and understanding of agriculture, farming and the food industry in Ireland", in association with An Bord Bia and the Association of Home Economics Teachers. Students investigate food production in their local area, design a healthy menu from the available produce and start up a healthy eating or food wastage reduction campaign in their school.

The 2008 overall winners of the TY category were a group from St Mary's Secondary School in Macroom, Co Cork. "We got in touch with three local producers in our area," explains 17-year-old Ailis O'Riordan. "Michael Twomey Butchers who source all their meat locally, Macroom Oatmeal and Caroline Robinson, an organic vegetable producer. They all started small. But in recent times people have become aware of the importance of locally produced food so their businesses are growing."

THE STUDENTS LEARNEDthat butcher Michael Twomey visits the farms himself to inspect the cattle and pick the meat he wants. "People enjoy coming back to local producers who take such pride in their produce," says Ailis. "A lot of consumers are keener to go to the smaller producers because they know that they'll get the healthiest, freshest food while also helping local economies and local farmers."

Once the students had spoken with local producers they then had to come up with a menu based on the local foods available. Their starter and entree consisted of Macroom's Minestrone Soup served with locally baked wholegrain brown bread followed by spiced Koftas served with a bowl of noodles and a plate of locally grown vegetables. For dessert they made Lee Valley's finest Irish Apple and Oatmeal Treat. Who says there's no such thing as Irish cuisine?

"I'm really interested in cooking," declares Leanne Kearney (17). "I've taken up social and scientific for my Leaving Cert and I love learning all the different aspects to it, not just the cooking but the production and safety too."

After putting together two successful healthy eating campaigns in their school, the girls put together a project showing what they had done every step of the way (including photos of their dishes and the cattle slaughtered to make it) and were shortlisted into the finals. They were then picked from 10 groups as the best out of 500 entries. Their prize? Every foodie's dream: an all-expenses paid trip to celebrity chef Neven Maguire's MacNean House Bistro in Cavan. "We had a seven-course meal, which consisted of beef, hake, cheeses and all sorts of other dishes," explains Leanne Kearney. "We visited a local duck farm and an organic fruit farmer and we went to his cooking school for a day also. It was brilliant."

The winning students also got top tips for healthy eating from nutritionist Paula Mee and €100 each.

Most importantly, however, they increased their awareness of nutrition, healthy eating and supporting local business. "I would feel much safer buying Irish food," says Elizabeth Cohalan. "You don't know what you're getting elsewhere, how fresh it is, if it has been cleaned and how far it has had to travel to get to you. You know exactly what's going into your stomach if you source it locally.

" Our Food - Your Way! alsogave me a much better understanding of what is good for me. Girls are obsessed with being thin. You see it all over the newspapers - how to get down to a size zero, which is crazy. There's only a small percentage of people in the world who have that physique but everyone aims for it. But simply dieting isn't enough. You have to eat right."

• For more info check out: www.agriaware.ie