•   www.communitychef.org.uk/

Cooking clubs and cookery training

• Active Kids Get Cooking
  Active Kids Get Cooking is an initiative which recognises, supports and promotes excellent healthy eating work and cooking in early years settings, primary, middle, secondary and special schools throughout the UK
  
• Chefs Adopt a School – Academy of Culinary Arts
  Chefs Adopt a School is the Academy of Culinary Arts’ charitable long-term project which, through a ‘hands-on’ approach, focuses on developing an essential understanding of ‘taste’ and teaches children about the pleasures of eating, the provenance of ingredients and the processes by which raw materials are transformed into food.
  
• Food in Schools
  The Food in Schools programme (formally the Food Partnership) develops CPD programmes between secondary schools and their feeder primary schools to develop food and nutrition training. Information about work in the South East is available on the website's database. 
  
• Lets Get Cooking
  Part of the School Food Trust Lets Get Cooking provides information about setting up cooking clubs.
  
• Licence to Cook
  From September 2008 Licence to Cook gave all secondary school pupils aged 11-16 the opportunity to learn how to cook. In January 2009 the Government announced that it would make food technology compulsory in the key stage 3 design and technology (D&T) curriculum from September 2011.  Funding has been made available by the DCSF to increase capacity for teaching food technology over the next two years.
  
• What’s Cooking
  What’s Cooking is the Food Standards Agency’s guide to setting up and running community and school food clubs.
  

  It’s in the bag

• Food Co-ops
  Provides information on how to set up a food co-op.
  
• Kent Farmers Markets
  A list of farmers markets held around the county.
  
• South East Food Group Partnership
  Lists places to buy local food.
  

  
  The perfect packed lunch

• British Nutrition Foundation
  The British Nutrition Foundation delivers authoritative, evidence-based information on food and nutrition in the context of health and lifestyle and has ideas for creating healthy lunchboxes for children.
  
• Food Standards Agency lunchbox ideas
  The Food Standards Agency provides four weeks worth of lunchbox ideas aimed at 5-8 year olds and 9-12 year olds as well as tips for a healthier lunchbox. 
  
• Healthier lunches
  This website is aimed at schools to help them audit and promote healthier lunches for children.  There is a cost for this.     
  
• School Food Trust lunchbox ideas
  The School Food Trust provides three weeks of ideas for low cost, low effort and vegetarian lunchboxes for primary school children.  
  

• School Food Trust packed lunch toolkit
  The Trust has developed a step by step guide to provide information, advice and guidance to schools on how to develop a healthy packed lunch policy.
  

Increasing school meal uptake

• FEAST and KCC Client Services
  Food Excellence and Skills Training is led by the School Food Trust to support and train everyone involved in providing school food. There is a FEAST centre in Kent run by Kent County Council Client Services. Client Services also provide training for school cooks and staff involved in food provision including nutrition, hygiene and food safety.
  

• School Food Trust
  The School Food Trust was established by the Department for Education and Skills in September 2005. Its remit is to transform school food and food skills, promote the education and health of children and young people and improve the quality of food in schools.  It also provides resources and support for schools who want to increase their uptake of school meals through the Million Meals Campaign.  Signing up to the Million Meals Campaign provides schools with access to resources.  
  
• Smallsteps4life 
  Smallsteps4life is part of the Change4Life movement, a nationwide movement that aims to help families eat well, move more and live longer.  Smallsteps4life will help motivate and support young people to take small, manageable steps to improve their health and well-being through challenges across themes of eating well, getting active and feeling good.  It was piloted in Kent schools by the National Children’s Bureau and Kent County Council Healthy Schools.

Healthy eating general

• Active Kent
  For days out and activities in Kent   
  
• Breastfeeding
  Guidance from the Department of Health
  What to eat when breastfeeding from the Food Standards Agency
  
• British Dietetic Association
  Website to help the public find a registered dietitian. 
  
• British Heart Foundation 
  The BHF produces guidance and publications around healthy eating. 
  
• Caroline Walker Trust
  The CWT provides nutritional guidelines for vulnerable groups including school children.  Guidelines include background information on the nutritional needs of school children and health issues and help and advice on all aspects of school food.
  
• Change4Life
  The campaign to help people make small changes to eat well, move more, and live longer.  Free resources available in the 'partners and supporters' section.
  
• Comic Company   
  Provides a good range of healthy eating resources at a cost.
  
• Eatwell
  Eatwell is the Food Standards Agency's consumer advice and information site which contains advice about healthy eating, food labels and how what we eat can affect our health to help us make healthier choices.  It covers healthy eating at all stages of life including pregnancy, weaning, children, teens and older people. 
  
• Food a Fact of Life   
  This site provides teaching materials covering healthy eating, cooking, food and farming ranging from 3 to 16 years. Resources are free.
  
• Food for Life
  The Food for Life Partnership is a network of schools and communities across England committed to transforming food culture. Its aim is to transform school and community food culture across England, by harnessing the ideas and initiative of young people and community leaders.
  
• Food Standards Agency
  The Food Standards Agency is an independent Government Department set up in 2000 to protect the public's health and consumer interests in relation to food. The Food Standards Agency is responsible food alerts, research and regulatory information.
  
• Food Vision
  The Food Vision website promotes safe, sustainable and nutritious food to improve local community health and well-being by acting as an information portal for local authorities and communities.
  
• Fresh Ideas Network
  The Fresh Ideas Network supports community food projects in the region which aim to make healthy/local food more easily available, accessible and affordable to local communities, particularly in areas of disadvantage.  It links projects and people involved in food work at ground level, supporting them with resources, training and a chance to meet and share ideas.
  
• Healthy Schools
  The Healthy Schools Programme promotes a whole school / whole child approach to health. Healthy Schools is intended to deliver real benefits in respect of: Improvement in health and reduced health inequalities; raised pupil achievement; social inclusion; and closer working between health promotion providers and education establishments. 
  
• Healthy Start
  Healthy Start replaced the Welfare Food Scheme and provides pregnant women under the age of 18 and families on specific benefits free vouchers that can be swapped for milk, fresh fruit and vegetables and vitamins.
  
• Well Being South East
  Department of Health South East's Healthy Weight Team and the BIG Lottery funded chances4change Programme Team website which supports those working to promote healthier lifestyles including physical activity, mental wellbeing, healthy weight and eating for health. It provides a means of keeping up to date with policies, strategies and funding opportunities. Details of the 62 lottery funded chances4change projects can also be found on this site.