Published on: Monday, 18 February 2013

CIT’s Department of Tourism and Hospitality Department hosted an initiative that aims to educate teens with Diabetes about healthy food in an informal environment.  The ‘Time to Talk’ support group, for teens living with Type 1 diabetes, is organised by the Southern Branch of the Diabetes Federation of Ireland. This event took place during mid-term break in February 2013.

The Institute is particularly suited for the project since it has extensive specialist tourism and hospitality education and training facilities and has been described as one of the finest facilities in the country.

Sixteen Teens with Type 1 diabetes spent an afternoon cooking healthy and tasty dishes prepared with the assistance of the Bachelor of Business in Culinary Arts Year 2 students.  The session concluded with all participants sitting down to enjoy the extensive menu that had been prepared.

Shirley Beattie, Paediatric Diabetes Dietician at Cork University Hospital, was on hand to guide the teens and chefs in making the right choices from a range of recipes from the Federations website. The dishes were drawn from the large range of recipes available from the Federation's website.

Adrian Gregan, Head, Department of Tourism and Hospitality commented that “We are delighted to offer our facilities to host such an event as we recognise that our graduate culinary students need to have a full understanding of the role of food in contributing to health. This is an ideal opportunity to showcase our training kitchens and lecture theatres which offer an optimal environment in which to study in the wide range of courses which we have on offer.”

The Department encompasses the areas of Culinary Arts, Tourism, Hospitality, and Bar Management. It has over 750 students across these disciplines and is located in a modern purpose-built building on CIT’s Bishopstown Campus.