School food is changing!

School food is being transformed. In October 2005, the Government appointed School Meals Review Panel published its report Turning the Tables. The report proposed radical changes to the quality and nutritional value of food served and consumed in school and has resulted in new standards for school food which will be fully phased in by September 2009.

Together the standards cover all food sold or served in schools: breakfast, lunch and after-school meals; and tuck vending, mid-morning break and after-school clubs.

• September 2006 – interim food standards for school lunches
• September 2007 – food-based standards for food other than lunch
• September 2008 – primary schools to meet nutrient based standards (i.e. not interim) for school lunches
• September 2009 - secondary schools to meet nutrient based standards (i.e. not interim) for school lunches

The School Food Trust

The School Food Trust was set up in 2005 to help deliver the new school food standards, develop food skills amongst children and young people and bring longer term improvements to their health and education. Whilst the Trust works closely with the Department for Education and Skills, it is an independent organisation, providing advice and information to anyone involved in the provision of school food.

The Trust believes that the transformation of school food and food skills is critical to the health of a generation of children. Obesity in children is rapidly increasing, children's knowledge of where food comes from has diminished and cooking skills across communities are declining.

We are passionate about our task and have set ourselves four key goals that we will strive to achieve over the next three years:

1. Ensure all schools meet the food based and nutrient based standards for lunch and non-lunch food
2. Increase the uptake of school meals
3. Reduce diet-related inequalities in childhood through food education and school based initiatives
4. Improve food skills through food education, and school and community initiatives

Contact

You can contact the School Food Trust in any of the following ways:

• Email - info@sft.gsi.gov.uk
• Phone - 020 7273 5205
• Post - School Food Trust, Caxton House, 6-12 Tothill Street, SW1H 9NA
• Helpline: 0800 089 5001; helpline@schoolfoodtrust.org.uk

For media enquiries, please email press@schoolfoodtrust.org.uk or call 0207 099 5239.

The Local Authority Caterers Association (LACA)
Catering through the generations

About LACA

The Local Authority Caterers Association (LACA) was formed in 1990 and is the leading professional body representing catering managers who provide services to all sectors of Local Authorities in England, Wales and Scotland.

Over 115 Local Education Authorities are represented in the membership of LACA. Of LEA schools, 85% of the catering service is provided byLACA members. With over 3 million school lunches being served every day in more than 22,000 schools, the LACA network is the country's largest provider of school catering in Britain.

LACA's network of members is responsible for the jobs of 77,000 people, 95% of whom are part-time female staff. Amongst its Associate membership are over 200 suppliers who are responsible for the supply of £260 million worth of food and equipment to the school catering service.

Bringing New Standards to School Meals

LACA members are now responsible for working with the School Food Trust in ensuring that the new, more stringent Nutritional Standards for school meals are implemented at the front line – in school kitchens across England. The school cooks and their kitchen teams have been working on the first phase of the new Standards – the Food-based Standards – for some time. All primary and secondary schools should now be compliant as of this month, September 2006.¹

School caterers are already working on the next phase of the new Standards – Nutrient-based Standards which have to be complied with by September 2008 for primary schools and September 2009 for secondary schools. Many caterers are already working ahead of these targets.

As a result of additional Government investment in the school meals service, caterers will now be in a position to make improvements in food provision. It will ensure that school meals can be produced to a high standard, with wide choice, using professionally prepared good quality, nutritious ingredients such as more fresh and locally sourced produce. School kitchens will also be improved where needed and additional training will be undertaken to improve the craft skills of more school cooks.

School cooks and their teams have always placed the health and wellbeing of the pupils in their schools as a major priority. Because they know that a school lunch is often, for many, the main meal of the day, they are dedicated to the task of feeding children properly. They are also fully committed to ensuring that a school meal is appealing as well as nutritionally beneficial to children and young people because they are also well aware that a properly prepared, healthy balanced meal is of no value unless they enjoy it and want to eat it.

Contact

Find out more about the work of LACA by visiting the website - www.laca.co.uk
For General Enquiries, please email LACA on admin@laca.co.uk
For Media Enquiries, please email HaGreen7@aol.com or call 020 8464 6378

¹   In Scotland, new Nutrient-based Standards for school meals under the "Hungry for Success" initiative were introduced in 2002. In Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government is currently consulting over "Appetite for Life", an equivalent initiative to those in Scotland and England, with the aim of also introducing more stringent Nutritional Standards for Welsh school meals in the next few years.