Food + Nutrition - Individual task.
I am currently studying GSCE food and nutrition and I am about to start my individual task, which is worth 30% of my final grade.
This task includes working independently by researching, developing, planning, making and evaluating. I will attempt to do this to the best of my ability.
I have looked at the five main syllabus areas, which are;
• Nutrition and health
• Food choice
• Food preparation and processing
• Deterioration, safety and preservation of food
• Marketing, advertising and consumer education
From these I have now selected three of the areas, which most interest me, these are;
• Nutrition and health
• Food choice
• Marketing, advertising and consumer education
I feel that these will be most useful for me because they are areas, which will provide me with a wide range of information and ideas for a well-detailed investigation. I am now preparing to mind map these three areas.
After studying my three chosen syllabus areas I have decided to investigate food choice and nutrition and health and marketing, advertising and consumer education further.
I have not yet received enough information or completed enough research to write a full task title but I am able to write a possible task title, which could be;
" To investigate the needs of a specific age group, possibly teenage students, who have to manage on a budget"
I may decide to look into the dietary needs of teenagers however I will continue to carry out any initial research with an open mind.
I have devised a research plan to help me focus on my chosen syllabus areas, which are food choice, nutrition and health and marketing and advertising. These will hopefully provide me with relevant information to leave me to develop my task title.
114 Grange Drive,
Melton Mowbray,
Leicestershire.
LE13 1HA
4th December 03
Nutrition and Dietetic service,
Mansion House,
Leicester Frith Hospital,
Groby Road,
Leicester.
LE3 9QF
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am currently a student at King Edward VII School, Melton Mowbray and I am studying food and nutrition. I am about to start my individual task that will be 30% of my final GCSE grade. I have decided to focus on the nutritional needs of young children. I am interested in finding out more about the dietary needs of young children whose parents have little knowledge of health and nutrition.
I will be grateful if you could send me any relevant information to help me succeed in this task. I thank you in anticipation for your support.
Yours faithfully,
Natalie Ward
I sent letters for relevant information to help with my individual task to the following addresses: -
Nutrition and Dietetic Service,
Mansion House,
Leicester Frith Hospital,
Groby road,
Leicester.
LE3 9QF
Health and Diet Centres Limited,
Weyvern House, Weyvern Park,
Old Portsmouth Road,
Peasmarsh, Guildford,
Surrey.
GU3 1NA
Nutrition and ...
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I will be grateful if you could send me any relevant information to help me succeed in this task. I thank you in anticipation for your support.
Yours faithfully,
Natalie Ward
I sent letters for relevant information to help with my individual task to the following addresses: -
Nutrition and Dietetic Service,
Mansion House,
Leicester Frith Hospital,
Groby road,
Leicester.
LE3 9QF
Health and Diet Centres Limited,
Weyvern House, Weyvern Park,
Old Portsmouth Road,
Peasmarsh, Guildford,
Surrey.
GU3 1NA
Nutrition and Dietetic Service,
Leicester General Hospital,
Uni Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust,
Gwendolen Road,
Leicester.
LE5 4PW
Nutrition and Dietetic Service,
Leicester Royal Infirmary,
Uni Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust,
Leicester.
LE1 5WW
I have only received information from one of the addresses that I sent letters to so far. The Nutrition and Dietetic Service at the Leicester Royal Infirmary sent me 7 pages of detailed information. This information was very useful for my study as it focussed on my particular area of adolescents. It gave me information such as physical development, nutritional requirements and the nutritional intake of adolescents. Overall I found this information very helpful.
After completing all of my primary research, I am now in a position to pin point my focussed area, which will enable me to write a final task title for my individual study.
"As a teenager myself, I hope to further my education, I am therefore going to investigate the dietary needs of teenagers and look at how nutritious balanced meals can be prepared on a tight budget and in a limited time as teenagers have a hectic and busy schedule."
I intend to carry out more research referring to this actual task title. Now that I have chosen my focus area and written my final task title I am able to extend my research to the subject of this focussed area, and to plan and prepare for my practical work.
(Please Tick Appropriate Answers)
. Sex- Male: Female:
2. Age- 0-10: 11-16: 17-25: 26-35: 36+:
3. Does any of your family have dietary needs? -
Vegetarian:
Diabetes:
Allergies to certain foods:
Low fat diet:
Iron deficiency:
High energy diet:
Other: .......................
4. Who does your family cater for? -
Babies: Young children: Teenagers: Adults: Elderly:
5. What affects your food choice? -
Appearance: Packaging: Taste: Cost:
6. Do you think you have a healthy balanced diet? - Yes: No:
7. How do you travel when doing a food shop? -
Walk: Car: Bus: Taxi: Internet: Other:
8. What are the main foods eaten by your family? -
Meat: Fish: Vegetables: Fruit: Rice/Pasta: Dairy: Biscuits/cakes:
9. Do you eat fresh fruit and vegetables daily? - Yes: No:
0. How often do you eat commercially prepared main course meals? -
Never: Daily: Weekly: Occasionally: Always:
From my questionnaire I have found out many things that could be helpful when planning my practical sessions for instance the main foods that are eaten by families who have teenagers in them are rice and pasta.
I was surprised to see that most people of all the ages that I asked eat fresh fruit and vegetables daily and think that they have a healthy balanced diet. Taste and appearance are the main two things that affect people's food choice so this is what I will be focussing on when making my chosen dishes. Families and teenagers eat ready-made meals quite often so I want to show that you can make healthy nutritious meals in a limited time. Because my practical sessions will only be an hour long this is ideal and will also extend my practical skills.
Nutrients of primary concern during teen years are iron, calcium and total calorie intake. Teen food intake studies show their diets are most often lacking in sufficient amounts of iron and calcium to support growth and health. If teens limit calories to control body weight, growth can actually be negatively affected.
From the information sent back in my letter reply I found that the most commonly consumed foods in this age group are white bread, savoury snacks, crisps, biscuits, potatoes and chocolate confectionary. Consumption of red meat and milk tended to be low along with fruit and vegetables. This contradicts my questionnaire results but from my own experiences I think that it is very true.
Teenagers often use a lot of energy and usually like to eat high fat foods. High fat foods are not good if eaten too often because unused or extra energy is stored as fat. Too much fat can cause heart disease in later life and is a factor in causing high blood pressure, stroke and obesity. Good eating habits are important particularly in the teenage years, as this sets a pattern for later life. Teenagers do need to eat some fat but not too much.
Protein is needed for growth and repair. Teenagers grow rapidly so need a good supply of it. Meat, fish, cheese, eggs, milk and Soya beans contain high biological value protein. Bread, cereals, pulses and nuts contain low biological value proteins. Both are equally valuable in the diet.
I chose to do this dish because teenagers need a lot of iron in their diet and the burger contains this. The potato is a good source of carbohydrate, which is essential for active teenagers. I thought this would be a good practical because I have never made anything like this before and it is extending my practical skills.
BURGERS-
onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
500g mince beef
lime, juice only
2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves
tbsp tomato puree
tsp Worcestershire sauce
egg yolk
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
SALSA-
2 large tomatoes, skinned and deseeded
Half a red pepper
fresh green chilli, halved and deseeded
/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
2-heaped tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
Juice 1 lime
Salt and pepper
POTATO WEDGES-
2 medium potatoes
Olive oil
Herbs, salt and pepper
.Mix all the burger ingredients together
2.Using wet hands, divide the mixture into four even sized portions and shape into burgers
3.Cut potatoes into wedge shapes and shake in a freezer bag with oil and herbs
4.Put wedges onto baking tray and put into the oven
5.Skin tomatoes by putting them in boiling water for a few seconds, chop and dice
6.Add chilli, onion, coriander and limejuice, salt and pepper
7.Mix in a bowl
8.Grill the burger
9.Serve
* Bowl
* Vegetable knife
* Oven
* Chopping board
* Baking tray
* Oven gloves
* Grill
* Fork
* 1 onion
* 1 garlic
* 500g mince beef
* 2 limes
* Coriander
* 200g tomato pure
* 150ml Worcestershire sauce
* 1 egg
* 2 potatoes
* 2 large tomatoes
* 1 red pepper
* 1 green chilli
* 1 red onion
I think that this dish was very successful and achieved what I planned to achieve. My results for this dish show that it was a suitable dish and overall I had good results.
During my practical session I was a little bit behind schedule but I managed to keep track of what I was doing and was able to serve my dish and wash up in the time that I had. I agree with the comments made by people that the taste was very satisfactory although if I made this dish again I would add a stronger flavour to the salsa like garlic or herbs for instance.
I decided to do this dish because it extends my practical skills and it fits in with my brief as I needed something suitable for teenagers. The pasta is a good source of energy and from my questionnaire results I found that a majority of families eat pasta, the bacon goes well with this pasta because it adds colour and taste but is also protein that is used for growth and repair.
350g pasta
3 small leeks, cleaned and chopped
75g streaky bacon, de-rinded and chopped
50g margarine
Extra cheese for topping
SAUCE-
50g margarine (instead of butter)
50g plain flour
850ml semi-skimmed milk (instead of whole milk)
75g cheddar cheese, grated
75ml double cream
Salt and pepper
.Boil water and cook pasta
2.Drain pasta in a colander and rinse under cold water
3.Melt margarine in a pan and soften leeks and bacon
4.Mix up pasta, bacon and leeks in a dish
5.Make the white sauce with the margarine, flour and milk
6.Add grated cheese, salt, pepper and cream to the sauce
7.Pour sauce over the pasta dish
8.Sprinkle cheese on top, put in oven for cheese to melt
9.Take out and serve
* Saucepan
* Colander
* Frying pan
* A bowl
* Cheese grater
* Pasta dish
* 1kg pasta
* 3 small leeks
* 200g streaky bacon
* 500g margarine
* 400g cheese
* 500g plain flour
* 2 pints semi-skimmed milk
* 150ml double cream
I decided to do this dish because it is something I have never thought of making before but it is appropriate as it answers my task title and extends my practical skill. The rice is a good source of energy and from my questionnaire results I found that a majority of families eat rice and pasta, the prawns and mackerel are a very good source of protein and this is one of the things that is most important to my particular age group.
2 tbsp olive oil
250g basmati rice
2 large spring onions
00g prawns
70g mackerel
beef tomato
roasted pepper
200ml chicken stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper