Photo credit: Local Food Links, Bridport, Dorset
Many local food groups work with schools - either on educational programmes, or delivering fresh produce for use in catering. Some social enterprises and local food organisations have even taken on the role of preparing healthy and sustainable meals for local school children. Sustain's Making Local Food Work programme is, for example, working with Local Food Links in Bridport, Dorset, to help them provide school meals made from fresh locally grown ingredients - helping children and their community.
School Nutrition Action Groups
School Nutrition Action Groups (SNAGs) bring together teachers, caterers, young people, school managers, parents and healthcare staff to improve the provision of healthy food and nutrition education in schools. Representatives from the pupils, staff, school caterers, parents and other relevant groups meet to develop policies on issues such as: breakfast provision in schools, provision of snacks in the tuck shop and vending machines, uptake of fruit and vegetables, pupils' choices in the canteen or the dining room and teaching nutrition in the classroom.
Find out more about SNAGs at: http://www.healthedtrust.com/pages/snag.htm
Breakfast clubs
Arriving at school having had no breakfast at all can lead to poor concentration and inhibit learning abilities. One solution to this problem is for school caterers to provide a breakfast service for children, this is becoming increasingly common. Where this is not the case, however, breakfast clubs can be set up. Breakfast clubs serve a range of healthy options including cereals, fruit juices and toast. They should also include a range of social, health, education and childcare elements into the healthy breakfast provision.
Take action:
- A major Big Lottery funded programme of work is currently underway, working with schools to improve nutrition, food skills and food education. See the Food for Life website at: http://www.foodforlife.org.uk/
- If you are interested in promoting fruit and vegetables in schools, an archive of information about Sustain's project Grab 5!, promoting fruit and vegetables in schools through a whole-school approach, can be found by clicking here. Information and materials reproduced on these archive pages is free to download.
- Sustain is running a campaign to improve children's food and food education. To add your voice of support to the campaign, or to find out more, see: http://www.childrensfoodcampaign.org.uk/
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