LONDON, June 5 /PRNewswire/ --

LONDON, June 5 /PRNewswire/ --

- Flora Launches 'Cooking With Schools' Initiative to Help Put Healthy Eating at the Heart of the Classroom

Research released by Flora today reveals 93% of primary school teachers want the Government to take more action to improve cookery lessons in school, 99% of teachers believe teaching children how to choose and prepare healthy food is essential to good health.

To help put healthy eating at the heart of the classroom, the Flora team is launching Cooking with Schools, an initiative that will offer free cooking equipment to all primary schools across the UK and Ireland and provide teachers with comprehensive resource packs.

- Timing is everything: 88% of primary school teachers want more cookery lessons to take place at their school with a third (34%) of all primary schools in the UK having a cookery lesson once a term or less

- Tools of the trade: Almost three quarters (72%) of primary school teachers stated they need more equipment to provide effective cookery lessons. Over a third (37%) of teachers rated the cookery equipment as poor or below average with a quarter (25%) stating equipment is over 10 years old. A third of schools (33%) have fewer than 5 wooden spoons per class!

- Insufficient instruction: Over two thirds (69%) of teachers feel they are currently not getting enough guidance or support from the Government to deliver stimulating cookery lessons

- A recipe for success: As well as providing knowledge of food preparation and good health, 92% of primary school teachers believe cookery lessons are a valuable way of teaching children core maths skills and two thirds (68%) say they also teach children about geography and provenance

- The seeds of good health: Over two thirds (69%) of primary school teachers do not think, at present, children are leaving primary school with a good understanding of how to choose and prepare healthy food

Ed Balls, Children, Schools and Families Secretary, has stressed the importance of teaching children how to cook, "Simple cooking is a fundamental skill that every young person should master - it is at the heart of tackling obesity and will enable future generations to understand food, diet and nutrition; and put together healthy meals for their entire lives."

The Flora team is committed to making the nation's hearts healthier by helping to reduce current overconsumption of saturated fat. By switching from butter to Flora, we could reduce our intake of saturated fat significantly to help meet the Government's recommended daily allowance, and help the nation live healthier for longer.

To register tokens from Flora packs for your child's school go to http://www.cookingwithschools.com

Notes to Editors:

Flora's Cooking with Schools tokens are worth at least 20p each and just one large pack would provide your school with GBP1 to spend. Tokens are available on all Flora packs including Flora Original, Flora Light, Flora Extra Light, Flora No Salt, Flora Buttery, Flora Omega 3 and Flora White.

The research was carried out by Tickbox.net between 31.03.08 and 08.04.08 amongst a nationally representative sample of 530 Primary School Teachers.

For further information, please contact the Flora press office: +44-20-7331-5435, florapressoffice@uk.cohnwolfe.com