Cooking buses are used for practical cookery lessons with children

Kiwi and apple zingers and roasted vegetable-filled jacket potatoes are among recipes being taught to children as part of the Focus on Food campaign.

Pupils at Springfield Primary School in Twickenham, south-west London, were the latest to climb aboard as the Cooking Bus toured the UK.

Teacher Jane Sixsmith said practical cooking lessons were "crucial".

Hands-on skills

Anita Cormac, who helped create the Food Standards Agency scheme, said: "It's not enough to ban junk food from school dinners and vending machines.

"If we want our children to eat well, they have to learn to cook first."

She said more teachers were needed to teach "hands-on cooking skills" as well as improved facilities, more money for ingredients more time in the curriculum.

Two buses are touring around the UK for 42 weeks of the year, with two teachers giving cookery lessons for primary schools.