Food Week is a new initiative from the New Zealand Nutrition Foundation. The inaugural Food Week will be May 9-15, 2011 and has the theme JUST COOK.
JUST COOK was chosen after evaluating research from the Health Sponsorship Council looking at the lifestyle and eating habits of New Zealanders. Their research shows there are a significant number of families, across all demographics, not regularly eating a home cooked meal during the week. Our focus is to encourage this group to prepare and eat more meals at home. Just cooking is a good thing – maybe from that you eat a meal together or have one more vegetable than you would otherwise have had.
In support of JUST COOK, the Health Sponsorship has just completed research on this topic. The results of this research are informing the planning of JUST COOK. One of the key findings was this group wanted more ideas on how to make their ingredients stretch further at minimal risk. They were willing to try new meals based on ingredients they already used and also use a few new ingredients at any one time, as long as the meal wasn’t wasted. Essentially they wanted to know the kids would eat a meal before they would stick their neck out and try something new.
Activities will centre on raising awareness of the basic pantry (includes food cupboard and fridge / freezer) and meals that can be created using these foods plus others purchased as needed.
Watch out for the launch next month of our new facebook page with its interactive cupboard – click on pictures of the foods you have and get meal ideas and recipes for cheap, quick, tasty family meals.
For more information please contact;
Sarah Hanrahan
ph: 09 489 3417 / 021 1185231
13th Apr 2011, 1:17pm
Food Week is a new initaitive from the New Zealand Nutrition Foundation with the theme this year of JUST COOK. The purpose of Food Week is to encourage home cooking and the swapping of ideas. As part of this, the JUST COOK competition and teaching unit aims to encourage groups of year 10 students to put forward their meal ideas in a fun, informative way that will stimulate discussion. The teaching unit has been prepared and reviewed by HETTANZ (Home Economics and Technology Teachers Association of NZ) members. We have some great prizes for the winning students and their teachers.
For the teachers: Kenwood Major Titanium Kitchen Machine
Kenwood Multi Pro Excel Food Processor
Kenwood Triblade Hand Blender
Panasonic Inverter Microwave
For the students: Sunbeam Appliances
Cook Books
Aprons
Grocery Vouchers
iPod Shuffles
While the teaching unit ties in with the year 10 curriculum and supports the competition, we appreciate you may already have plans in place than mean you cannot devote 4-6 weeks to the unit right now. You can enter the competition without completing the teaching unit. Please encourage your classes to enter the competition, we really want their ideas and for them to show others the great variety of home cooked meals they do eat and enjoy. Entry details are on the competition details form - upload a video and email the entry form back to sarah@nutritionfoundation.org.nz
As this is the first year of Food Week we are very keen to hear from you. We want to keep building and improving the programme over the coming years. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any comments, suggestions or ideas.
One last point, the JUST COOK facebook page and web page go live at the end of this month, until they are live there is no where to upload videos to!
13th Apr 2011, 11:12am
We want to know what meals your family enjoy. If you like them chances are others will too. Send us the recipe (or recipes) for your family favourites. We'll put the recipes up on our new Facebook page, to be launched at the end of April, so other family cooks can see your ideas.
Your recipe could also win you a night off the cooking. We'll draw one name to win a night for two at a luxury Heritage Hotel of your choice including a $100 room credit. (Some conditions apply) To see a fabulous Heritage Hotel near you go to www.heritagehotels.co.nz/ .
Terms and conditions:
Excludes Rutherford Nelson, Carrington Resort and Heritage Boutique Collection. Some close outs may apply. Prize not exchangeable for cash. Transport to the hotel not included. Winner must be over 18 years of age with a valid credit card to guarantee other incidentals.
To enter just send your recipe to sarah@nutritionfoundation.org.nz.
For more information please contact: Sarah Hanrahan, New Zealand Nutrition Foundation - sarah@nutritionfoundation.org.nz
16th Mar 2011, 2:23pm
Food Week is a new initiative from the New Zealand Nutrition Foundation. The inaugural Food Week will be May 9-15, 2011 and has the theme JUST COOK.
JUST COOK was chosen after evaluating research from the Health Sponsorship Council looking at the lifestyle and eating habits of New Zealanders. Their research shows there are a significant number of families, across all demographics, not regularly eating a home cooked meal during the week. Our focus is to encourage this group to prepare and eat more meals at home. Just cooking is a good thing – maybe from that you eat a meal together or have one more vegetable than you would otherwise have had.
In support of JUST COOK, the Health Sponsorship has just completed research on this topic. The results of this research are informing the planning of JUST COOK. One of the key findings was this group wanted more ideas on how to make their ingredients stretch further at minimal risk. They were willing to try new meals based on ingredients they already used and also use a few new ingredients at any one time, as long as the meal wasn’t wasted. Essentially they wanted to know the kids would eat a meal before they would stick their neck out and try something new.
Activities will centre on raising awareness of the basic pantry (includes food cupboard and fridge / freezer) and meals that can be created using these foods plus others purchased as needed.
Watch out for the launch next month of our new facebook page with its interactive cupboard – click on pictures of the foods you have and get meal ideas and recipes for cheap, quick, tasty family meals.
For more information please contact;
Sarah Hanrahan
ph: 09 489 3417 / 021 1185231
31st Mar 2010, 9:17am
eMark celebrates an important milestone this month with the first appearance of the eMark on supermarket shelves. Harraways, a New Zealand company manufacturing oats and porridge is the first company to adopt the eMark as a front of pack label. eMark is an ideal vehicle to promote the health benefits of Harraways cereals. As breakfast foods, oats and oat cereals are a great choice as most provide slow or medium energy release and are low in energy density. Over the next few months we will be advertising eMark in conjunction with Harraways.
For more information, some great ideas and recipes visit www.harraways.co.nz
7th Oct 2009, 5:06pm
Credible nutrition information promotes good health
Optimum nutrition is a fundamental part of good health. But knowing what to eat, how and when can be hard without access to the right information. The New Zealand Nutrition Foundation’s new website, www.nutritionfoundation.org.nz/, provides scientifically-accurate, easily-accessible information on food and nutrition, helping all New Zealanders towards a healthy, balanced diet.
The website gives up-to-date facts on all you need to know about ‘everything nutrition’; energy to food safety, minerals to glycaemic index. Based on national and international food and nutrition guidelines, it provides practical ideas and tips for all ages and stages.
The Foundation is New Zealand’s leading independent food and nutrition organisation. Everything on the website is written by qualified nutritionists and checked for scientific accuracy by the Foundation’s expert Scientific Advisory Group.
“Nutrition is an area where misinformation and confusion is common. Our new website gives New Zealanders confidence to make the right food choices as part of a healthy lifestyle,” says Sue Pollard, New Zealand Nutrition Foundation CEO.
For further information contact Carolyn Cairncross at 09 489 3417 or 021 292 6646
20th Dec 2008, 9:17am
Plant & Food Research’s laboratory test for digestibility of starch in foods is being made available to food manufacturers in early 2009.
“This new test puts New Zealand food manufacturers well ahead of the competition in their ability to measure and manipulate starch digestibility of foods. This test has been the workhorse of the Lifestyle Foods programme, and now it is being made available to the New Zealand food industry” said Dr Tim Lindley, business manager for the Lifestyle Foods programme.
The test was developed by Dr John Monro, of Plant & Food Research’s Palmerston North based Nutrition & Health Group, and measures the amount of rapidly digested starch, slowly digested starch, and resistant starch in a food sample.
The rapidly digested starch measurement enables calculation of glycaemic glucose equivalents, and hence glycaemic load, in a way that has significantly greater precision than using clinical measurements, and is much more affordable. The experience gained in doing well over a thousand of these tests to help Lifestyle Foods programme research teams identify new plant varieties, test new food ingredients, and develop new food structures with improved starch digestibility profiles, gives confidence that the test will be a useful tool for the food industry.
While rapidly digested starch is linked to the food’s glycaemic load, the slowly digested starch gives information about the ability of the food to deliver sustained energy supply for two hours after eating, and resistant starch indicates potential for gut health benefits.
The first industry application of the test will be to characterise the starch digestibility profiles of around 500 foods for assigning e-marks for rate of energy release. The test has also been used by the team working on the Aspire diet project, to develop a healthy muesli formulation and to compare the energy release properties of different types of breads.
Plant & Food Research (the New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research) began business on 1 December 2008, as the result of a merger between Crop & Food Research and HortResearch.
