School cooks are gearing up to celebrate the wonderful work they do by showcasing the benefits of a healthy school lunch.

National School Meals Week (NSMW) sponsored by Kraft Heinz Foodservice and organised by the Lead Association for Catering in Education (LACA), is the one week of the year when the school meals industry celebrates its success. Now in its 26th year, LACA is calling on everyone in education catering to get involved.

This year the LACA NSMW battlebus is taking School Meals ‘back on the road’ with its ‘Taste for Yourself’ campaign, visiting all 10 LACA regions, where they’ll be inviting parents, journalists, dignitaries and the public at large to enjoy some healthy, nutritious, freshly prepared school food.

‘Taste for Yourself’ is a school-based initiative to encourage pupils who currently don’t take a school meal to try one. Resources are available for schools to promote the campaign at http://thegreatschoollunch.co.uk/resources/.

MPs and peers will have the opportunity to ‘Taste for Themselves’ as well, with plans in place to serve a school lunch at the Palace of Westminster on November 20 to Members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. 2019 is also the 30th anniversary of LACA’s formation and to commemorate that they have launched a ‘#30 people, 30 School Meals Stories’ campaign, paying tribute to many of the heroes of the education catering industry.

A day on the farm

School cooks are being encouraged to spend a day on a farm to learn about farming ‘as it should be’.

The Soil Association is organising the farm days to help caterers see first hand how organic farming methods differ and their impact on the environment. Ian Nutt, associate director, Food for Life, said: “Reconnecting people with where their food comes from and championing the importance of well-sourced ingredients is a key part of our mission to make good food the easy choice for everyone. Food for Life farm visits are an opportunity for us to share the food story with caterers from the ground up, and demonstrate why our Food for Life Served Here standards are important.”

Emma Folly, catering supervisor at Henry Hinde Infant School, Rugby, said: “On our Food for Life farm visit we were able to see the origin of the food journey from field to plate, which felt really worthwhile. We experienced sustainable and ethical farming in action and were able to understand the importance of the Food for Life Served Here standards to our roles in the kitchen.”
To find out more about organising a farm day email catering@foodforlife.org.uk or call 0117 314 5180.