Deirdre Doyle The Cool Food School Owner Mum and Health Coach, Deirdre Doyle, set up The Cool Food School in 2018 with the goal of making food fun for children, ultimately helping to reduce childhood obesity. Her background in the food industry, (a graduate of the GMIT hotel and catering management degree program) has helped to inform her decision to set up the business. Deirdre helps to change children’s perception of food by making it fun so that they decide to make healthy choices themselves rather than being told to do so. She does this through fun, interactive cooking and food workshops in preschools, schools and secondary (TY) schools. She has taught over 18,000 children since starting out! She has written a children’s cookbook “Chop, Cook, Yum” (published by O’Brien Press) in May 2022 and has created a unique, online course “Food Fun for Preschoolers” for parents and children to learn to love veg at home! The Cool Food School also sells a curated range of items that support healthy eating for children from the best selling Kiddies Food Kutter range which allows children from age 2+ to cook safely. Deirdre has been interviewed on several radio stations including Today FM, Cork City FM, East Coast FM and Dublin City FM as well as appearing on Ireland AM. She has featured in the Irish Times on a number of occasions, including the cover of the weekend magazine (with her children) and writing several articles, in the Irish Independent and the Sunday Times. She was listed as one of “50 Heroines of the Irish Food Scene” in the Irish Times in February 2022. She was nominated for an Inspiring Woman Award in 2024. She won Businesswoman of the Year 2021 and 2023 in the Wicklow final of the Network Ireland annual awards. She was chosen by JP McMahon to be an Ambassador at Food on the Edge Symposium of international chefs in 2019. She has been nominated for a Family Friendly Business Award with JCI Dublin in 2018 and was a finalist for the Family Friendly Ireland Awards in November 2019. Deirdre enjoys exercising and hiking, spending time with her children and cooking.