Presentation of Transition year (TY) Unit
‘The Future is Food’
August 2014
Cáit Noone – Galway Mayo Institute of Technology
Email: cait.noone@gmit.ie Twitter: @CáitNoone
www.tastecouncilofireland.com
The Future is Food – why this project ?
 Taste Council (TC) members have always and continue to consider
food education as a crucial component of our food industry.
 October 2012: Taste Council met with Minister Coveney and
discussed possible projects for the coming year – the development of
a food unit for transition year students was considered a worthy
development and following a meeting of the council in late October
2012 work began on the project. All members of the council were
invited to participate in the project.
The Future is Food
 Nov 2012: Literature review was undertaken.
 TC members began meetings with other parties to seek view points on this
development- e.g. food producers, teachers in secondary schools, culinary
professionals, Euro-toques, colleagues in IOT sector working in culinary
education.
 December 2012: met with colleagues in the Dept. of Agriculture, Food &
Marine to share work to-date and seek feedback on unit content.
 Feb 2013: Opened discussions with NCCA – National Council for Curriculum
& Assessment. This was essential to ensure all curriculum and assessment
standards were followed.
Feb – April 2013
1. Unit curriculum was developed in consultation with various stakeholders. TC
members were keen to ensure the unit covered as many components as was
possible however not all material could be included. Practical elements within
the unit were key to encouraging student engagement and learning.
2.Resource material was developed to assist the teacher and students
undertaking the unit. These materials include a teacher’s resource pack and a
student toolkit. Both are available as of today online and are free to access.
Some print versions will also be available for schools.
The teacher’s pack has all lesson plans for the semester, various templates to
support theories and links to many online sources which can assist their
delivery of the unit.
The student toolkit has been designed to assist the student keep a record of
their learning and will also serve to assist them with their live project.
 On May 3rd 2013 the pilot was launched by Minister for Agriculture, Food &
the Marine Simon Coveney at the Taste Council Summer School in
Ballymaloe.
 Feedback on the day was very supportive and encouraging and eight
schools were identified to take part in the pilot. One school had to drop out
and eventually seven schools, twelve teachers and 180 students took part in
the pilot. Schools were located in Dublin, Donegal, Waterford, Wicklow,
Tipperary, Limerick & Cork.
The Future is Food Sept – December 2013
 October 2013: ATHE (Ass. Teachers of Home Economics) conference ,
Taste Council presents the unit to delegates and also provides them with unit
content.
 In November the TC coordinated with all participants to prepare them for the
unit, this involved:


Connecting with Food Producers, Euro-toques Chefs and
Institutes of Technology (IOT’s) to brief all on the unit and the
supports they could provide to pilot schools in their region.
Schools – sending the unit and all resource materials to the pilot
schools. Also shared a national database of food producers/Eurotoques members/IOT’s in their region who have offered to support and
work with the school on the unit. If anyone here is interested in joining
this database you can register your details here today.
The Future is Food Jan – August 2014
 Jan: The pilot was delivered in the second semester of the school year (JanMay).During this time the TC maintained contact with all schools to support
colleagues.
 April: TC met with pilot school teachers to seek feedback on the unit and
discuss progress to-date. This meeting provided invaluable insight into all
aspects of the unit.
 May: the TC invited students to participate in a national survey as their
feedback was also crucial to the evaluation of the unit. (results shared later)
 June/July: TC members reviewed progress and results from feedback
sessions and the unit content was finalised. This was then shared with the
NCCA for further comment and the unit and all support material was finalised
and will be live on the NCCA website this week. It is also available at the
Taste Council website (www.tastecouncilofireland.com)
The Future is Food – Unit Content
The unit has four sections:
Section 1: Setting up a mini company
Students will engage with the theory associated with setting up a mini company. This will
be relevant later in the unit and for general life skills.
Section 2 : Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the food sector
Students will engage with both the theory and case studies that exemplifies
entrepreneurship and innovation in the Irish food sector paying particular attention to the
evolution and ongoing developments with artisan food producers. Following theory
sessions students may meet with some regional producers & culinary professionals.
Section 3 : Food Project
Students will now form a company and may choose one of two food projects – ‘Product
Development’ or ‘Connecting with the Producers’.
Once their company structure is agreed and in place the team can develop a project plan
and begin the project.
The Future is Food – Unit Content
 Section 4: Evaluation of the unit.
Following the project completion an evaluation of the process must be undertaken as
learning will continue to evolve.
The Future is Food - Student Feedback
Did you have any say in choosing this unit?
No, the
school
decided I
take this
Yes, I chose
this module
from a range
of options
offered,
10%
In a scale of 1-7 (1 being the aspect you liked the
most and 7 being the aspect you liked the least)
rank each aspect in order of preference.
Product
Development
11%
Advertising
campaign
18%
module,
90%
Product
Marketing
12%
Digital
activities
17%
Market
Research
14%
Visiting
producers
15%
Production
Event
13%
For work in school, what devices are available to
you?
Other (please
specify)
Laptop
3%
9%
Was the learning material provided of use to
you?
No, 11%
Tablet
2%
Computer
in the
classroom
30%
Computers in
a computer
lab
56%
Yes, 89%
In future how would you like to receive project resources?
Other (please
specify), 5%
Download &
Print for class,
25%
On an app, 51%
Book format, 20%
The Future is Food – Acknowledgements
 Bord Bia – Sponsor of the unit
 Taste Council Members
 Association of Teachers of Home Economics (ATHE)
 National Council for Curriculum & Assessment (NCCA)
 Food Producers
 Eurotoques members
 Institutes of Technology (IOT’s)