Return of the turkey twizzler?

How cost cuts threaten the school food revolution.
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Save our school dinners!

There have been worrying signs from the Government that school meals are not going to be given the protection they need from the coming budget cuts. We simply cannot afford to put the brakes on the progress being made in the way we feed our children in schools and the way we educate them to feed themselves in future life. The Food for Life Partnership has released a letter signed by 50 headteachers calling on the Government to provide continued support for good food in schools.

Save our school dinners! Petition

We’ve also handed Sarah Teather, Minister of State for Children and Families, a petition calling on Government to ‘Save our School Dinners!’ and protect school food during the changes to school budgets.

The petition was signed by thousands of concerned parents, families, teachers, school caterers and individuals and the supporting organisations represent hundreds of thousands more people who care about school food and know that the government must also demonstrate its commitment if a healthy, economically viable lunch service is to succeed. These organisations are:

• The Food for Life Partnership, a coalition of four charities led by the Soil Association and including the Focus on Food Campaign, the Health Education Trust and Garden Organic
• The Children’s Food Campaign, supported by more than 150 children’s and health  organisations 
• Netmums
• Mumsnet
• Merton Parents for Better Food in Schools
• School Food Matters

School food is special. Good food in schools can help the Department for Education achieve its aim of a high standard of attainment for all pupils and help promote equality and fairness, “closing the gap” between rich and poor pupils. School food affects children’s health and for some children the school lunch is the only meal they will receive in a day, as the Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, Tim Loughton, acknowledged in the Commons. The school catering service as a whole can contribute to a thriving economy, mitigate environmental damage and encourage responsible food habits. These benefits are too good to lose.

Don't let this generation down - a healthy future starts at school.

Write to your MP

With Lib Dem MP Annette Brooke we have tabled an Early Day Motion in parliament to protect our school dinners from cuts to local authority budgets. (An EDM is a parliamentary petition that only MPs can sign, to move a particular issue up the government’s agenda).

Write to your MP and ask them to sign our parliamentary petition to protect the school lunch service from Local Authority budget cuts.

Our parliamentary petition asks the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove to recognise all the benefits of a good school meal service and to protect school lunch from cuts to local authority budgets, by introducing a minimum spend on ingredients for every child’s meal.

Read the full text of Early Day Motion 413 and see which MPs have already signed

Contact your MP using these easy steps

1. First you need to know their name. If you don’t, you can find the name of your local MP by going to www.writetothem.com and entering your postcode.
2. On the following page, you can click on the name of your MP (in the third column) and email them by following the instructions on the Write to Them site.
3. If you’d prefer to email them yourself, most MPs can be contacted by using the following format of email address: secondnamefirstinitial@parliament.uk
4. For instance, to email David Cameron you would use camerond@parliament.uk
5. That’s it! Please do let us know what response you receive, by emailing ehockridge@soilassociation.org
6. If you’d prefer you can send a letter to:
   ‘Local MP’s name’ MP (e.g. David Cameron MP)
   House of Commons
   London
   SW1A 0AA

Why does school food matter?

Food for Life Partnership schools all have stories that show how better food and food culture improve children’s health, behaviour, motivation and ability to learn. For further evidence on the benefits of good school meals visit the School Food Trust’s website. Good school food:

1. Improves academic achievement, by improving children’s behaviour and ability to learn.
2. Promotes pupils’ health and life chances, and enables families to take control of their own diet.
3. Can help bring communities together, by
   - developing good food culture and understanding of where food comes from,
   - creating stronger links between farmers and communities
   - encouraging good manners.
4. Allows access to good food for vulnerable children, and
5. Is good for British farmers and local jobs, helping to grow the British economy.