News
The Astley Cooper School put food reuse on the menu
This feature was added on 26th October 2010
Students from The Astley Cooper School in Hemel Hempstead have been crowned the county's food reuse champions after winning a countywide competition to compile a Love Food Hate Waste recipe booklet.
Run by WasteAware, part of the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership, the aim of the competition was to get students thinking about the impact that food waste has and how some simple steps to reduce food waste can benefit us as consumers while also helping the environment.
Thanks to additional sponsorship from the Hertfordshire Environmental Forum (HEF), the winning booklet, entitled ‘Waste not, Want not!’, has now been printed by WasteAware and the school will be selling it in aid of a community project of their choice.
Derrick Ashley, Executive Member for Waste, said: "The students from The Astley Cooper School demonstrated a strong understanding of the issues around reusing food and it's great to see their enthusiasm for this topic. Their booklet includes lots of good recipe ideas and they have clearly done a lot of research into how to reduce food waste.
"Cutting down the amount of food waste we generate not only helps the environment, but saves money as well. Over eight million tonnes of food and drink are thrown away every year in the UK - that is the equivalent of throwing £50 a month straight in the bin. Hopefully this recipe book will inspire residents to reduce the amount of food that goes unnecessarily to waste."
Head teacher at The Astley Cooper School, Anne Smithers, added: "I am delighted that a group of our students has been chosen as the winners of this competition. They worked extremely hard to develop their ideas and present them in an interesting format. Everyone at school is very proud of them and we are looking forward to seeing the finished booklets. The students will have the opportunity to discuss and decide what to do with the money raised by the sale of the booklets, making this an excellent learning activity for them from start to finish."
For further details on how to purchase ‘Waste not, Want not!’ call The Astley Cooper School on 01442 394141.
The students were presented with their recipe booklets and a certificate by County Councillor Ian Reay (Deputy Executive Member for Waste) at a special school assembly on October 18 2010.
WasteAware would like to thank County Councillor Jane Pitman (Executive Member for Children's Services) and Caroline Cuerden (a former head teacher, who now promotes food education in schools) for judging the competition.
