Food Tech pupils design a meal for Olympic athletes

Priory pupils have been planning a healthy and nutritious meal for Team GB and Paralympic GB athletes in a national competition.

Team GB, Aldi and Get Set launched their ‘Design a Meal for an Athlete’ competition for young people up to age 14.

It’s to celebrate the Olympic Games in Paris this summer and pupils had to decide what makes a healthy meal, choose an athlete from the list provided and assess their likes and needs and then design a healthy, balanced and tasty meal for them.

Mrs Lockwood organised the competition in Priory and selected one pupil from each house to put forward to the national competition where pupils could win a family trip to the Olympics and £1000 for the school, among other prizes.

She said: “We wanted to get our pupils involved for a number of reasons. The competition was really good timing to raise awareness of the Olympics this summer.  We are also always trying to get the pupils invested in a healthy balanced diet, something which is in our curriculum. 

"It also gave the pupils a chance to think more about a healthy lifestyle for an athlete and I was blown away by the entries. They were beautifully illustrated, most included nutrients with the athlete in mind and they had to dig deep with their knowledge.

“Their entries have now been sent off to the national competition, to be judged by their athletes.”

Akemi, from Hodder, won. She chose boxer Delicious Oria who ‘needs lots of protein’ and whose favourite foods include ‘avocado, chicken and salmon’.

Akemi said: “I selected proteins and carbohydrates as well as his favourite foods for him to perform well.  I learnt about the various foods from Mrs Lockwood and by cooking at home – I also enjoyed colouring in the illustration.”

Holly, from Ribble, was second and she selected vegetarian Paralympic swimmer Alice Tai who eats ‘beans and lentils for protein.’

Holly said: “I selected Alice because she is female and my dad was vegan so I know about the various foods. I wanted to make her meal healthy, balanced and colourful.”

Third placed Charlie, from Douglas, also chose Delicious Oria and said: “He needs a lot of protein and is a strong athlete and I gave him variety as well.”

Fourth placed Elliot, from Calder, also selected Delicious. He said: “Choosing his meal helped me understand everything taught in class a bit more. I like cooking and I had a lot of ideas.”