Dartmouth Food Festival Committee are supporting the chefs of the future by subsidising the cost of ingredients for the school’s catering course.

The committee has agreed to fund the subsidy for the entire academic year and they will also be helping to arrange workshops so that catering pupils can experience working with a professional chef to a specific brief.

Dartmouth Academy pupils already participate in the food festival each year in order to gain experience and inspiration from the very best food producers and chefs.

Secondary pupils help to facilitate their younger peers taking part in the activities in the main cooking tents and they have also aided children using rowing machines to generate power for items that are used in cooking.

Food is part of Dartmouth Academy’s whole school curriculum, starting in primary and continuing through secondary the focus is on developing knowledge of ingredients and healthy eating.

In Years 10 and 11 pupils can choose to do the Eduqas Hospitality and Catering vocational level 2 qualification, which provides a great introduction to the hospitality industry.

Having grown into a first class feast of entertainment featuring workshops, seminars, tastings, competitions and demonstrations, Dartmouth Food Festival is now led by award winning chef Mitch Tonks and aims to show off the best the South West has to offer.

Paul Girardot, Principal at Dartmouth Academy, said:

“I want to say a massive thank you to the Dartmouth Food Festival Committee for offering to subsidise ingredient costs for our catering pupils for a whole academic year. I am also very grateful that they are going to help us arrange some fantastic workshops which will give pupils a valuable insight into the careers available in hospitality.”

Matthew Shanks, CEO of Education South West said:

“We are absolutely thrilled to see the Dartmouth Food Festival Committee supporting the next generation of chefs and we’re looking forward to seeing how this collaboration helps ignite students' passion for cooking.”