Background to the new school food standards
As part of the School Food Plan, a new set of standards for all food served in schools have been introduced. Welcomed by the Save Our Standards Campaign, and by Jamie Oliver, the new standards are designed to make it easier for school cooks to create imaginative, flexible and nutritious menus. They will be mandatory in all maintained schools, and new academies and free schools.
Although the previous standards, introduced between 2006 and 2009, did much to improve school food, they were complicated and expensive to enforce. Cooks had to use a special computer program to analyse the nutritional content of every menu. Often, they ended up following three-week menu plans sent out by centralised catering teams who would do the analysis for them. This meant they couldn’t be as flexible or creative as many would like.
The School Food Plan Standards Panel, chaired by Henry Dimbleby, co-author of the School Food Plan (scroll down for full list of Panel members), undertook ‘to create a clearer set of food-based standards, accompanied by practical guidance, that:
Provides caterers with a framework on which to build interesting, creative and nutritionally-balanced menus.
Are less burdensome and operationally cheaper to implement than the current nutrient-based standards.”
The Children’s Food Trust worked with the Standards Panel to test the revised food based standards in schools and with caterers from across England. The results of the testing were positive and clear. (You can read the Report here). Ninety per cent of school cooks and eighty per cent of caterers thought the new standards were easier to understand than the current ones. Eighty per cent of school cooks and caterers thought they would provide more flexibility.
Nutritionally, the standards are sound. In both primary and secondary schools, the menus tested met or improved upon the nutritional levels delivered by the current nutrient-based standards. In some areas, improvements are dramatic such as in the provision of vegetables, which led to better fibre, folate, vitamin A and vitamin C levels in secondary schools.
The Department for Education ran a public consultation during spring 2014, to make sure everyone had a chance to have their say. You can view the Government Consultation Response here.
THE STANDARDS PANEL
Professor Ashley Adamson, Newcastle University
Simon Barber, Head teacher at Carshalton Boys Sports College
Carrieanne Bishop, Chair-elect of LACA
Myles Bremner, Director for the School Food Plan
Anne Bull, Chair of LACA
Henry Dimbleby, Co-Author of the School Food Plan (Chair)
Professor Susan Jebb, Oxford University (Project Manager)
Tony Mulgrew, Catering Manager at Ravenscliffe High School
Dr Michael Nelson, Public Health Nutrition Research
Jeanette Orrey, Food For Life Partnership
Sarah Owen, School Cook at Stoke Newington School
Amy Roberts, Nutritionist at Compass Group