Has the Great British Bake Off given you, and your pupils, fresh motivation and new ideas for food technology activities? Find out more about the story of grain-based food from farm to mill to plate to get to grips with all things bread!
Teaching resources
For passionate teachers with a flair for baking there are classroom resources that can be used to help inspire pupils to get baking and find out more about where their food comes from. The easy-to-use resources focus on healthy eating, nutrition, farming, sustainable development, baking and the retailing of flour and baking products. Tailored for pupils throughout primary and secondary school they include lesson plans, activity sheets, information pages, videos, podcasts, interactive games, recipe databases and much more. A selection can be found here.
Bread is a great way to learn about and explore celebrations and events from around the world. There is a wide variety from the classic baguette originally from France, bagels from Eastern Europe, Italian pizza and ciabatta bread, Mexican flatbread tortillas, or chapatti and naan bread from Asia to make the perfect accompaniment for a curry.
People to ask
Teachers around the country can brush up on their baking knowledge and practical skills by taking part in training events with professional bakers run by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). The advice from industry experts can really make a difference to improving techniques, such as kneading, to help achieve the perfect dough. Learning in the classroom can also be supported by industry case studies and videos of large-scale bakery production. By delivering real life insight into the wider baking industry these can help pupils learn more about the importance of bread as an everyday staple food.
Aside from the obvious nutritional significance of bread to the nation’s health the bakery market in the UK is worth a staggering £3.6 billion and is one of the largest markets in the food industry. Total volume at present is approximately just under 4 billion units; the equivalent of almost 11 million loaves and packs sold every day. 80% of bread sold is made in larger plant bakeries, 17% at in-store bakeries within supermarkets and high street craft bakers produce the rest.
