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For 42 weeks a year it sets out to different destinations around the country where its two teachers work with school staff to inspire children and highlight the importance of food education, while supporting the national curriculum, teachers' own work objectives, and Government health messages. Over three years the state-of-the-art mobile kitchen will involve more than 18,000 pupils and 2,400 teachers in its interactive cooking sessions, plus those taking part in projects during the school holidays. All Cooking Bus workshops are hands-on events, making finished dishes to eat there and then, or take home for tea. You can try some of the recipes yourself by clicking on the link in the panel to the right. The Agency is giving priority to schools in low income areas, reflecting our commitment to ensure that the Agency's policies take into account the needs and views of disadvantaged groups and our aim of reducing inequalities by enabling and encouraging disadvantaged and vulnerable people to improve their diets. The FSA Cooking Bus will continue this work in the school holidays when it will tour community centres, youth clubs and play schemes to make learning about food more accessible. The bus itself is an articulated pantechnicon that opens out to provide a fully equipped state-of-the-art classroom/kitchen for 16 students. It is staffed by a senior teacher, a support teacher and a driver technician. Focus on Food, the campaign with which the Agency has developed its Cooking Bus, always strives to buy food within a 30-mile radius of the school being visited and to make effective use of local produce. Focus on Food
The Focus on Food campaign was founded by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) to promote and strengthen the status of practical food education in primary and secondary schools. Part of its work is to run Cooking Buses, one in partnership with the Food Standards Agency. Overall, the campaign aims to:
The campaign's programme of activities is designed to put cooking at the core of the food curriculum. The Focus on Food Cooking Buses are the campaign's flagships. They deliver food education support and intervention in the form of inspirational onboard cooking workshops for primary and secondary schools. The workshops are tailored to engage young people, enrich the curriculum, and train teachers. All Cooking Bus activities are planned and run by the campaign's highly experienced food education teachers. Other Focus on Food activities include Focus on Food week in June, the Cook School magazine, which is available free to schools, and a series of open lectures in Halifax and London. The campaign is also running a pilot initiative in North Lanarkshire called Focus on Food Scotland, which involves a continuing professional development scheme for primary and secondary teachers. This project was established to help achieve the targets for healthy eating outlined in the Scottish Diet Action Plan for 2005. For further information about the Focus on Food campaign please contact: Design Dimension 
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