school food standards
Better School Food is Coming. Have Your Say Now.
Today is a good day for children and school food. The government has launched its public consultation on their proposed new school food standards.
The changes proposed are the most significant update to the rules governing what children eat at school since 2014. For nine weeks, parents, educators, caterers and campaigners can have their say on proposals.
“We welcome this consultation as a sign that this Government recognises the wider benefits of feeding children well in school. Every child should have access to good quality food during the school day, and for the 2.2 million children living in food insecure households, a good meal at school can be a crucial part of their daily nutrition. Improving what is served in schools, alongside extending entitlement to free meals, sets the conditions for all children to have consistent access to a nutritious meal each day.”
– Naomi Duncan, Chief Executive, Chefs in Schools
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The Chefs in Schools Chief Executive went on: “The School Food Standards are long overdue an update. These proposals would raise nutritional quality, while giving schools flexibility to deliver within tight budgets. Billions of pounds of public money are spent on school food each year, so it is right that there are high expectations about what is being provided. Our polling shows that parents, across all regions and income groups, want school food to be good quality and of a standard they can trust. Stronger standards, enforced properly, can make that achievable.“
Critics may question whether schools can afford higher-quality food. The evidence from pilot schools proves it’s possible. By leaning on pulses rather than meat as the default protein, some primaries involved in early trials found they were able to reduce costs, freeing up budget for higher-welfare meat on other days, or for food education. The new standards are designed with affordability in mind, not despite it.
The consultation runs for nine weeks. We are encouraging everyone – schools, parents, caterers and the wider public – to engage with it and back the proposed changes. Better school food standards are long overdue. The case is clear: improve what children eat at school and you improve their health, their ability to learn, and the daily reality of child poverty. We now have the chance to make it happen.
You have nine weeks to make your voice heard.