Rob Percival - Head of Food Policy
05 June 2026
When the Food for Life campaign kicked off in 2003 – a collaboration between the Soil Association and school dinner lady Jeanette Orrey – it was motivated by dismay at the drastically poor quality of food and the lack of nutritional standards across UK schools.
We’ve come a long way.
A quarter of English primary schools now serve freshly prepared meals that meet the quality criteria of Food for Life Served Here, and all English schools are required by law to meet the nutritional demands of School Food Standards.
Today we’re pushing even further.
Earlier this year, the UK Government opened a consultation on the School Food Standards, exploring how to bring them up to date with the latest science. A lack of fibre and an excess of sugar in children’s diets were of particular concern.
Food for Life – in collaboration with forty other organisations working across the food system – has today responded to the consultation, welcoming many of the proposed changes, while urging the government to focus on implementation and compliance.
This is a critical opportunity to improve the health of a generation.
British children consume the most ultra-processed diet in Europe. They eat less than half the recommended fruit and veg, but twice the recommended sugar. By the time they are 11, over a third of children in England are experiencing overweight and obesity.
School food is a public health priority, affecting children’s lives for years to come.
In our consultation response, Food for Life has stressed that successful implementation of the revised standards will depend on appropriate training, guidance and support for school leaders, caterers and business managers.
We have called on government to enable a whole school approach, integrating nutrition, sustainability, and food education into every aspect of school life, with leadership from the top, and voice given to pupils, cooks, caterers, and lunchtime supervisors.
In challenging times, funding for school food needs to be kept under review, particularly for small schools who do not benefit from economies of scale. And government must learn from what works, employing every available tool – including Food for Life Served Here – to support implementation and verify compliance.
Today marks a milestone.
Revised School Food Standards could be truly game‑changing, raising the quality of food served in schools across England. For more information, read our consultation response.