Latest News

Brent MP and Minister takes part in cooking sessions at local school

31 October 2011 | London Region

Brent MP and Minister for Children and Families, Sarah Teather, will be joining children at St Robert Southwell Catholic Primary school for the annual ‘make, take home and share’ cooking day – run by the Let’s Get Cooking club.

Every single child at the school will be cooking a healthy dish to take home and share with their family and friends on the day, as part of the school’s Let’s Get Cooking work to help children and families improve their diets by learning to cook.

Research for Let’s Get Cooking has shown that over half of club members (58%) said they were eating more hea

Caterers urged to put Real Bread on The Menu

31 October 2011

The Real Bread Campaign is working on an initiative to encourage more public sector canteens to put Real Bread on The Menu.

LACA response to Jamie Oliver’s views published in the Education Guardian

25 October 2011

•   School catering providers welcome focus on the threat to healthy school meals
•   LACA asks why a celebrity intervention is needed to gain Government and media attention on this important issue
•   Despite DfE trust in Academies to maintain nutritional standards, there are already signs that they are being breached or relaxed

Jamie Oliver’s recipe for saving school dinners

25 October 2011

Concern that the healthy meals he’s fought to put on the plates of UK schoolchildren may be under threat has prompted Jamie Oliver to draw up an action plan to save them.

Unveiled in the Guardian newspaper today, the campaigning chef has an eight-point manifesto in mind that will reinforce the gains Oliver has helped initiate and close some of the loopholes that are appearing.

Children in Tower Hamlets to benefit from healthier school dinners

19 October 2011 | London Region

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets has achieved a bronze Food for Life Catering Mark from the Soil Association for all 90 of its primary, nursery and special schools.

Primary, nursery and special schools in Tower Hamlets are now serving meals that are over 75% freshly prepared, free from undesirable e-numbers, trans fats and additives like aspartame, tartrazine and MSG.

North Somerset schools take part in Harvest Festival celebrations

17 October 2011 | South West Region

More than 250 pupils, parents and staff at Churchill Primary School, Langford, North Somerset, recently tucked into a lunch of home-grown fruit and vegetables as part of the school’s Harvest Festival celebrations.

School catering company Aspens Services and Churchill Primary organised the meal featuring home-grown produce from the gardens of parents and teaching staff, as well as from the school’s own garden.

The School Food Trust named one of RSPH organisations of the year

14 October 2011

The charity has been chosen as one of just seven organisations across the country to receive an RPSH ‘Health promotion and community well-being organisation and partnership award’ 2011.

The Trust won the title for its impact on children’s health by improving food in schools, helping children and families develop healthy cooking skills and for its nutrition and advice research programme

Contract caterer Sodexo gives free lunch to over 2,000 school pupils

13 October 2011

The free lunch was available to around 1,500 pupils attending the 50 schools Sodexo operates at in Bromley, 600 pupils at 37 schools in Wiltshire and 72 pupils in Salisbury. In addition, Sodexo provided 145 meals to reception pupils in Rochdale over the period of one week.

Sodexo wanted to give pupils the opportunity to try the food before signing up to school meals and to encourage them to experience the dining room at their new school.

Contract caterer Aspens scoops Gold ‘Eggsellence’ Award

6 October 2011

Independent contract caterer and support services provider Aspens Services has won a Gold ‘Eggsellence’ Award by the British Hen Welfare Trust.

The Trust – a national campaigning charity whose celebrity patrons include chefs Jamie Oliver and Antony Worrall Thompson – presents the certificate to companies and restaurants which use only British free-range eggs in their menus.

Contract caterer Aspens serves free-range eggs at the 36 locations in England and Wales – including more than 30 schools and colleges - where the company provides catering and hospitality services.

London schools take part in Farm Academy Programme

5 October 2011 | London Region

Three London schools are holding farmers markets this month as part of a new two year project for the capital.

Over the next few years, the Soil Association will be working with 10 schools across London in the Farm Academy Programme, which helps teach pupils about where their food comes from through farm visits and the establishment of school farmers markets – organised entirely by pupils.