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2021

PRESS RELEASE – GIVE A SAUSAGE

Leading chefs and campaigners join the school food revolution. Kids are the country’s future – let’s feed them like it.

Culinary stars and food campaigners – from Tom Kerridge to Prue Leith – are signing up to the school food revolution by backing a campaign to highlight the importance of quality school meals, which kicks off today (Wed Sept 29).

The stellar list of chefs, food producers and campaigners, including Henry Dimbleby, Chantelle Nicholson, Amelia Freer, Thomasina Miers and Biteback 2030 ambassador Christina Adane, are asking people ‘To Give A Sausage’ about school food.

The campaign – from the school food charity, Chefs in Schools – was designed pro-bono by Bartle Bogle Hegarty(BBH), one of the world’s most famous creative agencies.

It encourages schools to sign up to a School Food Charter – which is a commitment to serving freshly made, high-quality school meals.

Chefs and people with a passion for food are being urged to consider a career in school food.

While the Government is being asked to adopt key recommendations referenced in the National Food Strategy, including:

  1.   Putting quality first
  2.   Investing in the workforce
  3.   Ensuring no child goes hungry

Tom Kerridge, who co-founded Full Time Meals with the England footballer Marcus Rashford, is backing the campaign to raise awareness of the role school food can play in tackling child food poverty.

There is a growing body of evidence that good school lunches are associated with better child health, behaviour and attainment.

  • Pupils in both primary and secondary schools are more “on-task” in the classroom as a result of improvements to school lunch quality and the dining environment. (1)
  • Research also shows, children eating school lunches exhibit lower levels of sedentary behaviour (2) – showing it’s vital to serve a good standard of school food across the country.
  • Children attending schools where school food standards are more rigorously adhered to have lower rates of obesity (3).
  • But at least 60% of secondary schools fail to meet the legal School Food Standards (4)
  • 1 in 3 children leave school overweight or obese.
  • Around 1.5m (5) hungry children living in very food insecure households miss out on free school meals.

The pandemic put school food in the spotlight when parents shared images of the food their children were being sent to eat at home.

This campaign wants to see people talking about the importance of good food being served in schools, and challenging for action to make sure every child can access a quality school meal.

With awareness of the importance of school food growing, organisations have been getting behind the campaign offering support free of charge – including BBH, and media companies like – JACK and City Outdoor Media.

If you give a sausage about school food, share the video or download the School Food Charter now.

Tom Kerridge

Co-founder, Full Time Meals with the England footballer Marcus Rashford.

“This is a cause close to my heart.  It’s heartbreaking to think that 4.2 million children in the UK are living in poverty, no child should go to bed hungry but far too many do. Serving good food in schools is vital if we want children to learn and reach their potential.” 

Prue Leith

Restaurateur, chef, broadcaster and writer.

“I support this campaign with all my heart. Schools can offer a fantastic opportunity to teach children to cook and eat good food that will set them up for life.”

Henry Dimbleby

Co-founder of Chefs in Schools and author of the National Food Strategy.

“We have an obesity crisis in this country, although you can’t fix everything with school food, you have such a vital time to intervene in how children interact with food so if you can teach them through the food they eat in the dining hall, you have an opportunity to shape their eating habits for life.”