Whilst many people were enjoying a hard-earned rest during the half-term holiday Cooks from schools in North Yorkshire attended the ‘Cook for Success’ conference hosted by the School Food Trust held at Elland Road, Leeds.

The Prime Minister, Tony Blair sent a personal message to the delegates to thank them for their hard work.  Celebrity chef Brian Turner returned to the city where he trained to speak about healthy eating and he showed delegates how to cook paprika chicken on roast tomatoes, mixed bean casserole in baked potatoes and banana cinnamon pudding with orange custard.

Delegates heard from a primary school head teacher how important it was for cooks and head teachers to communicate with each other and how the healthy eating message needed to reach parents as well as their pupils in school.

The delegates who came from schools across the Yorkshire and Humber area were able to discuss with each other ways in which they could encourage more pupils to eat the healthy school meals now being provided.

Councillor John Watson, Executive Member for Children and Young People’s Services commented that ‘ the event was a good way for our cooks to contribute and show that in North Yorkshire we are leading the way in providing healthy school meals’.

Sue Tiplady, cook at Caedmon School in Whitby said ‘I enjoyed the event very much and it demonstrated how school cooks have an important role to play in the health of our community’.