Have you ever learned something new while helping your children with homework or with a school project? I’m not embarrassed to admit that in the past I have.
This is one of the reasons why teaching children about food safety and hygiene during this year’s Food Safety Week (10-16 June) might provide us with a double benefit!
The Agency has created ‘Kitchen Check’ for adults to complete at home, and a ‘Young people’s activity pack’ so they can get involved too.
The main aim of this is, of course, to establish good food safety and hygiene habits at an early age. After all, it’s often easier to encourage children to adopt good practices than to try to re-educate adults who have established bad habits.
But there might also be other benefits. Researchby P Damerell, C Howe and EJ Milner-Gulland, in ‘Child-oriented environmental education influences adult knowledge and household behaviour’, suggest that there may be a case for ‘child to parent transfer of education-dependent knowledge’.
What do you think are the benefits of including children in food hygiene awareness work?
You can find out more online about Food Safety Week 2013 resources and about the science behind food safety week.
And if you have children, no one will know if you try out the children’s work pack first – before asking them to have a go.