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Food and Health

The current interest in food and health, thanks partly to celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver, has led to a demand for fresh, locally-produced, unprocessed food.  But although the last ten years have seen an explosion in the number of cookery magazines, TV programmes, food websites and celebrity chefs, all are disproportionate to the actual food activity which takes place!

Although food education is taught as part of food technology in most schools in England and Wales, less time and less emphasis has been allocated to practical skills in most schools.  In some secondary schools, food education is not taught at all. This is partly due to difficulties in finding qualified teachers and partly because training kitchens have been removed.

“You are what you eat” may be a cliché but the effects of poor nutrition and diet are self-evident in the west. Heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and many other ailments and diseases often have some link to poor nutrition. Obesity is an important risk factor for a number of chronic diseases and costs the NHS more than £500m per year.  A report by the National Audit Office warns that if the current trend continues, 25% of British adults will be obese by 2010.  These facts have now caught media attention as they are directly related to increased mortality and lower life expectancy.  Tackling obesity is a government priority and is demonstrated in the Healthy Schools agenda, ‘Licence to Cook’, Nutrition Standards for School Meals, five-a-day and other initiatives by the department of health.

Within the WI, home economics is a core activity.  Predominantly members are rural, based in village communities, and are interested in making food from good ingredients using sound cooking skills. Many of our members are experienced cooks and may have a professional background in food and/or teaching.

An example of traffic lights food labelling system
The NFWI (National Federation of Women’s Institutes) supports the promotion of healthy eating and signpost labelling using the traffic lights scheme and has worked in the community for many years to try and help stem the tide of obesity and diet-related problems in children and the associated risk of chronic disease in later life.

Since 2006 many members have volunteered their time and commitment to run practical cookery courses for the “Let’s cook!” project to disadvantaged local groups across England and Wales so that young parents know how to prepare a basic, healthy, family meal for their children. The project is funded by the Food Standards Agency.

Our members believe that the right diet should be a balanced one. There is no one good or bad food and no single food can give us all the nutrients we need. The key is balance and moderation and an easy visual way to see this is to use the FSA’s Eatwell plate. The message is simple and often heard, “Eat less fat, sugar and salt. Eat more fruit and vegetables.”

Eatwell Plate illustrates how to have a balanced diet
The FSA’s Eatwell plate is a simple and practical image which easily illustrates the recommended proportions for a healthy balanced diet. It shows that  you can still enjoy all your favourite foods, although perhaps in smaller portions or less often! The secret is to eat a balanced diet.

The Eatwell plate makes healthy eating easier to understand by showing the types and proportions of foods we need to have a healthy and well balanced diet.