GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND THE SCHOOL FOOD STANDARDS

It’s that time of year again, when many of us look to introduce a few new healthy eating habits or perhaps ditch a few of our not so healthy ones. As a food business, this is something we do constantly throughout the year and the School Food Standards are always at the very heart of this process. But what do these standards actually specify that we do?

The answer is ‘a lot’. And rightly so. When it comes to our children’s nutrition, we need to make sure they are getting the food they need to grow, develop and learn.

Anything but standard

The standards cover everything from how many times a week certain types of food (fruit, vegetables, protein, dairy) should be on the menu to how many different varieties of these foods there should be, as well as which foods need to be limited. You can see a great visual summary here.

It goes without saying, that we make sure that our menus hit every target and more often than not, go above and beyond. For example, we are expected to provide three different types of vegetables as sides each week. On our menu this week, there are seven.

And our menus are also always accredited by the Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) Food in Schools Team, giving schools and parents that extra reassurance that they are independently reviewed and approved.

Championing higher standards in Lincolnshire

As part of our commitment to keeping food standards in schools high, we’re supporting a new Food Standards Agency and Department for Education pilot in Lincolnshire (and 17 other local authorities) that aims to design and test a new approach to help schools comply with these School Food Standards.

The goal is to make sure that more school meals hit these standards, something we could not be more in favour of. As founder and director of The Farm Kitchen, Victoria Howe says:

 
“When speaking to the LCC Food in Schools Team recently, it was great to hear about the work being done on school food standards across the county. We’re very happy to see extra checks being introduced to make sure all school meals meet these standards and we very much support the LCC in their drive to make Lincolnshire school meals even better. What could be more important than making sure that our children all get the healthy, nutritious food they need to thrive now and in the future?”