Award Criteria

Here’s just a summary of what your school will achieve to get an award at each of the levels – you can read the full bronze criteria here.

• Have completed over half of the Bronze Food Quality criteria for schools
• Have implemented a whole school approach to food and have considered elements of the food environment across the four pillars: Food quality; Food leadership & food culture; Food Education; Community, partnerships & parent engagement

• Meet Bronze Food for Life Served Here Award standards which shows that school food is healthy and uses seasonal ingredients that are at least 75% freshly prepared 
• Involve pupils and parents in planning improvements to school menus and the lunchtime experience, boosting school meal take-up
• Give every pupil the opportunity to visit a local farm, and take part in cooking and food growing activity

• Have committed to improve their school food culture by developing a school food policy
• Serve school meals on proper crockery, not plastic ‘flight trays’
• Meet Silver Food for Life Served Here Standards which shows that school food is healthy, ethical, and uses some local and organic ingredients
• Have a cooking club, where pupils get to cook with and eat the produce grown in the school growing area
• Involve parents and the wider community to get involved in food education via food-themed events
• Our food is healthy, ethical, and uses local ingredients. We use a minimum of 5% organic ingredients in our menus

• Act as hubs for their local community, actively involving parents and community groups in cooking and growing activities 
• Meet Gold Food for Life Served Here standards which shows the food served is healthy, ethical, uses lots of local ingredients and is animal and climate friendly, including a minimum of 15% organic and 5% free range 
• Pupils choosing to eat a school meal is the norm
• Are actively involved in the life of a local farm and active in planning and growing organic food for the school

Applying for your Food for Life Awards