The lessons, at Manchester High School for Girls, provided the students with food for thought by highlighting mass production practices, the virtues of home-grown produce and benefits of organic or free-range commodities.

The event was held to celebrate British Food Fortnight and was supported by Aramark Catering and LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), an organisation that aims to narrow the gap between farmers and consumers.

MHSG Year Nine student Jasmine Egan explained: “We learned about the benefits of British-grown, seasonal produce as opposed to items that have travelled into the country from across the world. Then we got to taste-test some leading brands of ice-cream against one produced on a local dairy farm, with the majority of the class preferring the latter.

“Finally, we were shown how to cook a Risotto using only British-based produce such as rocket, rosemary, onion, pearl barley and Cheshire Cheese, which proved an enjoyable activity for all of us,” she added.

MHSG Food Technology Teacher Mrs Jan Fordham said the day had been insightful for all.

“These are valuable lessons for our pupils that will help them to identify the origin of the foods on their plates and production methods, as well as considering the distances covered from harvest to the supermarket shelf.

“We are grateful for our partners from LEAF and Aramark for their help with this project and we look forward to developing these partnerships in the months ahead,” she added.