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The Prince of Wales backs the school food revolution

Thursday, December 4, 2008
Posted in Organics | Tagged Organics

Jamie Oliver brought the dire state of school dinners to the public’s attention and schools are now flocking to join the Soil Association-led Food for Life Partnership to do something about it. On Monday 1 December, The Prince of Wales, who has long spoken about the importance of educating young people about where their food comes from, will show his support for the movement by presenting awards to the six schools [1] in England with the best school food culture at the first ever Food for Life Partnership Awards Ceremony in London.

Jeanette Orrey, Food for Life Partnership School Meals Advisor and the school cook who inspired Jamie Oliver’s School Dinners campaign, says: “We campaigned for better school dinners, but it’s not just about school meals anymore, it’s also about practical food education like learning to cook, growing food and visiting farms to learn where food actually comes from. This is what we, at the Food for Life Partnership, work with schools across England to achieve.

“We are here to celebrate six schools achieving the Food for Life Partnership Silver Award [2] and 20 schools achieving the Food for Life Partnership Bronze Award [3], which is absolutely fantastic. This shows what can be done in just a year when schools and school meals staff work together.”

The increase in children opting for school dinners in the award-winning schools is hugely encouraging, with an average increase of 16%. Emma Noble, Director of the Food for Life Partnership says: “These first Food for Life Partnership Award-winning schools show that it is possible to transform school food culture and to increase school meal take-up at the same time when young people’s views are listened to and school meal changes are supported by practical food education like learning to cook, growing food and visiting farms to learn where food actually comes from.”

The Food for Life Partnership’s ambitious goal is to have 3,600 schools enrolled by 2011 and, through our work with these schools and their communities, improve the well-being of 150,000 people, helping them to understand where food comes from and take control of their food lives.

For further information, images and case studies contact:
Rikke Bruntse-Dahl, PR & Media Co-ordinator for the Food for Life Partnership on
T: 0117 314 5145, M: 07920 465 239, E: rbruntse-dahl@soilassociation.org

Or visit www.foodforlife.org.uk [Ends]
Notes to Editors:

[1] The six Food for Life Partnership Silver schools are: St Peter’s CE (Controlled) Primary, Wem — Shropshire; St Andrew’s CE Primary School, Shifnal — Shropshire; St John the Baptist School, Hackney — London; St John’s CE VA Primary School, Midsomer Norton — Somerset; St Joseph’s School, Cranleigh — Surrey and St Peter’s C of E Primary School, East Bridgford — Nottinghamshire. Please contact Rikke Bruntse-Dahl, PR & Media Co-ordinator (see contact details above) for specific information and images on these schools.

[2] Schools must meet certain criteria to achieve the Food for Life Partnership Awards:

BRONZE schools serve seasonal school meals that are at least 75% freshly prepared by a well-trained school cook. Pupils and parents are involved in planning improvements to school menus and the dining experience via a school nutrition action group, boosting school meal take-up. Every pupil has the opportunity to visit a farm during his or her time at school, and opportunities are given for cooking and food growing activity.

SILVER schools serve school meals on plates, not flight trays, and a range of locally sourced and organic items are served. All chicken, bacon and sausages served are Freedom Food certified or free range and no fish from unsustainable sources is served. The school has a cooking club, and pupils get to cook with and eat the produce grown in the school growing area. Parents and the wider community get involved in food education via food-themed events.

GOLD schools are hubs of good food culture in their community, actively involving parents and community groups in cooking and growing activity. School meals are at least 75% freshly prepared, 50% local and 30% organic, and more than 70% of pupils are choosing to eat school meals. Every pupil learns to cook and has the opportunity to grow food, and groups of pupils are actively involved in the life of a local farm.

[3] The Food for Life Partnership is a network of schools and communities across England committed to transforming food culture. Together we will revolutionise schools meals, reconnect young people with farms and inspire families to cook and grow food.

The initiative is funded by the Big Lottery Fund and led by the Soil Association, bringing together the practical expertise of the Focus on Food Campaign, Garden Organic and the Health Education Trust.

The Soil Association is the UK’s leading environmental charity promoting sustainable, organic farming and championing human health.

The Focus on Food Campaignis the leading food education support programme for the teaching of cooking in the UK’s primary and secondary schools.

Garden Organic is the UK’s leading organic growing charity dedicated to researching and promoting organic gardening, farming and food.

The Health Education Trustis the national charity dedicated to initiating and supporting work with children and young adults to encourage the growth of healthy lifestyles.

To join the Food for Life Partnership or find out more, check www.foodforlife.org.uk