That back-to-school feeling

So long summer, and what I wish I'd learned at school

Sep 06, 2024

Hi there,

How are you?

I’m back from my summer. It’s been great. We took a month (mostly) off. We try and do it every summer. My thinking is one day Dylan and Esca might not want to spend a month away with us so while they do, I am making the most of it. It’s precious and a privilege.

We spent the month travelling around Spain and Portugal. We moved a lot which, with a one year old, felt a lot at times but it made time go slower and that for me is what I want from summer.

Some holiday highlights in no order;

Swimming out to and jumping off rocks in the middle of the sea
Tinto de verano on the beach (red wine with lemonade and fresh orange)
Waterpark - bad food, good vibes
Staying on a lemon farm meant an endless supply of lemons
Cold Amarguinha (a Portuguese lemon liquor) with lots of lemon and ice
Getting my Mum into the wild Portuguese sea only weeks after her hip op (Go Gez)
Tomato and watermelon salad
The Thai eggs at Do Becco in Lisbon

I reel against the back-to-school of September. I am not someone who delights in routine, so the freedom of summer is for me. I spent the last day of the summer holidays with Dylan doing all the things he loves. Which meant the morning in a skatepark, then ice cream sundaes in town followed by a new sketchbook and a walk around the RA. (side note - the ice cream parlour at Fortnum and Mason gives kids a badge which gives them free toppings for life - it’s as close to Willy Wonka as real life gets). I had milk ice and cherry sherbert. Would go back and order the same.

I’ve noticed on getting home we are all craving fruit and vegetables as I often do after a holiday. As I’ve started packing lunches and snacks I’ve been thinking a lot about how kids tastes change and mature, and I wanted to share with you the work of an amazing charity I am the patron of.

TastEd aims to introduce kids to the magic of vegetables and fruits though their Taste Education lessons. They aim to get kids to use their five senses to learn about fruit and veg and the lessons always end with the opportunity to taste. There is a golden rule though, which is very freeing: no one ever has to try and no one has to like. It’s food literacy. Just as in school we learn our numbers, colours and words, TastEd add on learning about veg and fruit.

It's transformative, I’ve seen first-hand during the visits I have made to schools how kids respond to the colours, textures, sounds and stories of food. I’ve seen this at home with my own kids too, how a story can shift food from a no thanks to an enthusiastically eaten favourite.

Some words written by a child in a lesson I sat in on a couple of years ago

I feel so passionately that this kind of food education is the way to help transform how we eat as a nation, and long before I had my own kids (in my years of work with Jamie Oliver on School Dinners and other campaigns) I could see how getting in early is crucial.

TastEd is doing such critical work. The lessons are so simple for teachers, almost no equipment is needed and it fits in with the topics already learnt in schools. The lessons are written by my friend the brilliant food writer Bee Wilson.

It’s their 5th birthday this year, and to celebrate I am hosting a dinner with Bee Wilson and Honey and Co to spread the word and raise some money for their incredible work.

If you’re in a position to do any of the below, it could make a huge difference:

buy a ticket to what will be a truly delicious dinner

donate directly to TastEd to help them continue their amazing work

share their work with any teacher, parent, nursery or caregiver that may find it useful

follow their journey via their newsletter and instagram

Next week I have my favourite cake recipe for you. It’s easy. It’s flexible. It loves fruit. It will be the first instalment of my extra newsletter and the recipe will be for those of you who have already paid to support my recipes and work on this newsletter for which I am hugely grateful.