LMC Announce Winners in Meat4Schools Competition with ABP

TASTY dishes are on the menu for pupils across Northern Ireland this week with three schools taking delivery of substantial meat packages. In a bid to win a meat package budding chefs submitted entries to the annual Meat4Schools competition, hosted by the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC). The winning schools each received £100 of […]

TASTY dishes are on the menu for pupils across Northern Ireland this week with three schools taking delivery of substantial meat packages. In a bid to win a meat package budding chefs submitted entries to the annual Meat4Schools competition, hosted by the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC). The winning schools each received £100 of NIFQA beef and lamb from ABP. The Meat4Schools competition is a highlight in the LMC calendar and each year pupils from across Northern Ireland are invited to profile the significance of Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assured (NIFQA) beef and lamb to our local industry and as part of a healthy balanced diet. Creative juices were flowing as pupils also produced original recipes with NIFQA beef and lamb as part of their competition submission. The three winning recipes were Brilliant Beef Burgers, Lamb Stew and Spaghetti Bolognese. LMC Education and Consumer Promotions Manager Sarah Toland explained, “One of the key drivers for the competition was to encourage the use of NIFQA beef and lamb in schools, and to complement our existing schools programme. With this in mind we specifically targeted Food and Nutrition teachers and their students when drawing up the criteria for the project.” Three schools were selected as the deserved winners of this year’s competition: De La Salle High School, Downpatrick, Down High School, Downpatrick and Loreto Convent Grammar School, Omagh. Speaking about the Meat4Schools competition, De La Salle High School teacher Irene Stokes remarked that it has helped increase awareness of the importance of sourcing local NIFQA produce. Ms Stokes said, “This competition allowed our students an opportunity to highlight the vital nutrients that beef and lamb provide and how both can add variety, colour, flavour and texture to any dish. Our students are also becoming increasingly aware of sourcing meats that have the NIFQA symbol and the impact this has on the local economy.” Down High School teacher Sharon McKee added, “Thank you to LMC for running this competition. It was a fabulous way of encouraging our young people to consider the valuable contribution of red meat in their diet. Our Year 9 pupils are currently investigating the nutritional and dietary needs of adolescence so this competition fitted well into our curriculum and brought the theory to life.”