FEATURE FOCUS: SUSTAINABILITY
Putting plant-based options front and centre in schools
Standards. These new standards came into force on 1 January 2015. All maintained schools, new academies, and free schools were and still are required to follow them.
Despite that new plan, pupils’ diets have not become much healthier. Compliance to these standards is also low. A Food for Life, ‘State of the Nation’ report from 2019 revealed more than 60% of schools were not meeting the School Food Standards (SFS) and that general non- compliance was rising. Caterers put this down to rising costs, inadequate Government funding and a lack of enforcement.
In addition to this, nutrition has moved on since the time of the then ‘new’ standards. Sustainability is also now much more in the forefront than it was then.
A
s part of our feature focus this month looking at sustainability in schools, Mike Meek, Procurement and Sustainability Director at school catering specialists allmanhall, makes the case for offering a strong plant-based option for schoolchildren’s mealtimes.
Ten years ago, the education security commissioned a review of the School Food
A coalition of 36 organisations, spanning charities, educational organisations and foodservice providers, all frustrated with school nutrition, have formed ‘The School Food Working Group’. They have launched a new manifesto, calling on the next Government to commit to ensuring every child has access to hot nutritious meals, food is sustainable and funding is improved, to better enable caterers to achieve such standards.
While there seems to be an enthusiasm towards providing more plant-based options, the current School Food Standards don’t prioritise vegan or vegetarian options and still recommend meat to be on school menus three times a week.
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This is likely to be something that will change in any future updates. Gradual changes are likely to be more acceptable to pupils, so adding bean / pulses to meat dishes could be a start, or using blended meat products, for example pork and butter bean sausages. Switching half the meat mince in a shepherds or cottage pie for a plant- based mince, or simply looking at reducing red meat – particularly ruminants - on your ‘meat’ days is also a good idea.
Analysing recipes using a carbon calculator such as the award–winning recipe assessment platform, Foodsteps can be a useful tool to educate and inform pupils. Foodsteps’ goal is to enable every food business to have a “better impact on the planet.” In independent education, they work in exclusive partnership with allmanhall to bring this platform to in–house catering teams. Together, through increased availability of information and effective supply chain management, allmanhall and Foodsteps are able to track and reduce the carbon emissions of food and drinks served in schools. Carbon labels on dishes and the emissions and ‘food stories’ behind them can help pupils understand why changes are being made, and can help catering teams develop menus and modify recipes to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the menu. Hero dishes are a great way to encourage and celebrate dishes that are nutritious and sustainable.
Signing up to the Proveg School Plates Awards December 2023
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