Campaign
THE FUTURE OF
SCHOOL FOOD
School food
needs fixing –
Have your say
Schools are where we can teach every child about varied diets and fresh food. We know there is great school food out there but in too many schools junk food can be served every day, while fresh, nutritious food is harder to access and food can be unappealing.
The Government is reviewing school food standards right now. This is our chance to make real change — and your voice matters.
The School Food Standards were last reviewed in 2014, aiming to make sure children developed healthy eating habits, enjoyed tasty food and had the energy and nutrition they needed to learn. Eleven years on, this simply isn’t the reality for many pupils across the country.
The Government has committed to reviewing the standards and now they have the opportunity to truly transform school food. It’s time to get the junk out of schools, to properly support chefs and to ensure every child has the delicious, nutritious food they need to thrive.
What Parents Are Telling Us: The Report
Our report, ‘The School Food Standards: What Parents Want For Their Children’ shares new polling with parents, alongside insights from school chefs, young people and the wider school food sector. The polling makes a clear case to government: Across regions and income groups, parents want stronger school food standards, properly enforced.
The polling of 1000 parents in England found:
✅ 96% say school meals should be made with fresh, nutritious ingredients
⚠️ 66% are worried junk food is available every day in secondary schools – ¼ say these shouldn’t be in school at all
🔍 78% want the government to inspect and enforce food standards
🧠 82% believe school meals directly affect their child’s health, growth and learning
Parents who took part in the research shared stories about the poor quality of food being served in schools along with high prices and a lack of choice.
“There is a lot of beige food served and small portions.”
“Food for school should not be used as a means of making a profit.”
This report also sets out Chefs in Schools’ vision for revised school food standards including specific changes needed to realise the full potential of school food. Our vision is informed by our own work in schools and backed up by parents, food educators, nutritionists, teachers and chefs.
We are calling for every school to serve food that fuels the future and ensures every child can reach their full potential.
A Student’s View
“A quality school meal shouldn’t be regarded as a privilege. It should be a baseline: fuel that enables young people to think clearly, engage fully, and maintain physical and emotional wellbeing throughout the day. But too often, this isn’t the reality. I’ve sat beside people who pretend they aren’t hungry to avoid the embarrassment of a school meal that doesn’t stretch far enough. I’ve skipped lunch more times than I can count when the food felt more like a compromise than nourishment: overcooked, under-portioned, or simply un-stomachable.”
EMMANUELA
17, Food Ambassador
“It’s high time we fed children healthy, delicious food at school. For this we need better school standards, and more importantly, that they are enforced, something which has never happened. Maybe this time?”
Dame Prue Leith
FOUNDER OF LEITHS COOKERY SCHOOL AND CHEFS IN SCHOOLS PATRON
Real Food, Real Change – Our vision
With the right standards in place, we can ensure that school food – at breakfast, lunch, breaktime or during after school clubs – gives children the delicious, nutritious food they need to succeed.
Quality school food is an investment in children for the long term. It not only supports good health – but it also helps children to be happy, to do well in school and to reach their potential.
We believe:
✔ EVERY CHILD should be able to eat their school meal in a pleasant environment, with sufficient time to enjoy their food and recharge.
✔ EVERY MEAL should be made with fresh, nutritious ingredients by chefs and kitchen teams who are properly trained, recognised and remunerated.
✔ EVERY SCHOOL should seize the opportunity to make lunch an important part of children’s learning and development.
We present our recommended specific reforms to the School Food Standards in our report.
To show it’s possible to beef up standards and have great, tasty food that kids love, we’ve also produced some an example menu that would comply with these standards.
And we believe your voice can help make these changes happen. Tell us about your experiences and ideas for improved school food using the form below.
You Had
Your Say
When we launched this campaign we wanted to hear from you about the realities of school food and what you wanted to see change.
This public consultation has now closed but we’re going to use your responses to drive change.
We’re currently looking through all your responses before we taken them to government. But don’t worry, if you’ve signed up to our mailing list, we’ll keep you updated every step of the way.
Stay tuned!
Have Your Say: the Future of School Food
If you have a vision for how school food should be, we want to hear from you without delay...
The Future of School Food
Naomi Duncan on the future of school food as government reviews school food standards for the first time in over a decade...
Challenges and solutions for school food
Jake Barwood, chef and food educator discusses the challenges and solutions for school food...
hungry to learn more about our work?
Explore our resources and check out our training.