TRANSITION year students from Margaret Aylward Community College in Whitehall are making their own healthy crisps as part of an innovative experiential learning programme.
The 21 locals are among thousands of students across the country taking part in the programme called The Future is Food that’s been created by Bord Bia and The TASTE Council of Ireland.
The students are working with Stonybatter chef Sarah O’Leary (usually found in the kitchen of celebrated café, A Slice of Cake), who has given up her Monday mornings to help them create their own range of vegetable crisps.
Under the watchful eye of home economics teacher, Margaret Dockery, Sarah and the students have been working on ways in which they could produce their own version of the popular savoury snack using carrots, parsnips and sweet potatoes, along with a variety of flavour combinations created by the girls from herbs and spices.
The Future is Food was designed to engage transition year students with Ireland’s artisan food industry through practical insight and real-life experience.
Margaret Dockery says the programme has been a journey of discovery for the students, many of whom would not previously have connected the food that they eat with the ingredients from which it is made.
“It is really good for the girls to meet people from industry as it makes what they are doing and learning real,” she said.
“Working with Sarah has given the girls such a valuable insight into the working life of a chef, not to mention the stages involved in developing a new food product.
“It was important to work on something that the girls were all familiar with. Together, we chose the simple potato crisp as a way of experimenting with different kinds of root vegetables and flavour combinations.”
Chef Sarah, who has long had an interest in food education, said it was a joy to be able to introduce the students to the food industry in a way that engaged and inspired them.
“It’s wonderful to see that the girls are so receptive to doing something new and being adventurous with flavours,” she said.
“It was also great to be able to use the time with the students to talk to them about the small artisan food sector and some of the people who are running their own businesses locally.
“Food is becoming really trendy in Ireland and I really hope that the girls see it is a serious career option.”
