Tipp’s take on Jamie Oliver

FOOD producers in Tipperary are doing a Jamie Oliver and going directly to schools to raise awareness of local produce and the importance of food to the economy.

The Food Connect project is aimed at linking schools with the people who grow, rear and make food in the area and promote local produce.

The brainchild of the Tipperary Food Producers Group, the project involves 11 secondary schools across the north and south of the county and uses websites like Twitter and Facebook to get young people interested in local food.

TV chef Jamie Oliver famously caused a storm in Britain with his School Dinners programme which highlighted poor-quality food in schools.

In this case the Tipperary incentive is designed to get students thinking about where their food comes from and how it contributes to the economy of their area.

Transition-year students will be working with a food producer and involved in a range of projects from market research to international product comparisons, with the aim of gaining a broader knowledge of local food production and the business sector.

The Tipperary schools have already received a visit from their partner producer where students were educated on artisan and speciality foods, and the importance of local food production to the local economy.

Ann-Marie Walsh from The Tipperary Kitchen in Holycross said she was “amazed” at the interaction from students when she visited the class.

“There was a strong debate on the economic merits of supporting local food production. From students this is pretty impressive,” she said.

During the programme four students will represent their group and spend a week each in the producer’s premises learning about the business. Students will use up-to-the-minute technology while working on the “Food Connect” project, reporting daily progress on a blog which will be seen by all other students in their own class and participants from the other 10 schools.

They will also use Facebook and Twitter to communicate about their partner producer, to help build the profiles of all 11 producers involved online.

Chairperson of the Tipperary Food Producers Group Pat Whelan said their research indicated 100% of students have a Facebook profile.

All 11 projects will end in December with a presentation by each class to a panel of judges.