Our advisors

Our advisors are pioneering individuals who are acknowledged leaders in the field of school meals and food education, with their own areas of significant expertise. They give us insight to help us better plan, deliver and review our programme.

Jeanette Orrey, school meals policy advisor
Jeanette is one of the UK's most well known, widely respected and inspirational experts on school food policy - and she was a dinner lady for over 20 years! Her no-nonsense common sense approach means she can cut through the jargon and see straightaway how and where improvements can be made. Jeanette founded the Soil Association's Food for Life campaign back in 2003 and has been with us ever since. Visit Jeanette Orrey's Primary Choice website

Jackie Schneider, parent campaigner
Fed up with the poor quality of school meals in the London Borough of Merton, teacher and parent activist Jackie Schneider began campaigning for the Local Education Authority to improve them. She set up Merton Parents for Better Food in Schools and got 150 parents signed up and taking part in demonstrations, meetings and letter writing. As a result of this parent power, school meals in Merton have now been radically improved. Since then Jackie has organised the National Parents Conference and the Dining Room Experience competition and is active as the Chair of Merton Parents.

Olukemi Atijosan, Catering solutions specialist
As the charismatic and energetic founder of Eagle Solutions, Kemi Atijosan has been involved in school catering for more than 25 years. She has led the way in forging innovative partnerships, especially reaching out to minority ethnic groups and creating services that reflect the multicultural needs of London’s diverse communities. For Kemi, establishing Eagle Solutions Services Limited (ESSL) is the culmination of a long career of activism and enthusiasm for healthy catering and management efficiency in London’s school system. She is passionate about ensuring that good, healthy food for children becomes the norm in London schools. Her mission is to develop in-house catering facilities together with healthy, multicultural menus, as well as dynamic interaction between parents, head teachers and governors and to make food an integral part of the learning process for all children.

Steve Thorpe, school gardener extraordinaire
For seven years, Steve Thorpe has volunteered his time to lead a Gardening Club at Haworth Primary School, which has transformed the pupils’ attitudes to fresh vegetables and their local community. Using his knowledge of gardening and a well of enthusiasm, Steve has helped the whole school to get as excited about growing as he is - winning awards left, right and centre for their acheivements! Steve has seen first hand how children with behavioural problems or special needs can benefit hugely when given new focus and motivation and he is spreading this message to inspire other schools to follow suit.