This week marks the 30th edition of National School Meals Week, with this year’s campaign aiming to get as many children as possible back into eating and enjoying hot, healthy lunches in school.
National School Meals Week [NSMW] is a flagship campaign organised by LACA, The School Food People. Its key objective is to promote the importance and health benefits of choosing a nutritious meal at lunchtime, and every year is underpinned by important messages relevant to current affairs.
Indeed, school meal provision has been a widely publicised topic over the previous two years during the Covid-19 pandemic, with many pupils having spent months away from education as they knew it. During this time, Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford successfully lobbied government to provide free school meals to vulnerable children during lockdown through his own campaign. Subsequent public pressure forced ministers into two U-turns, which saw government extend free school meal support to cover the summer and winter holidays and implement an eventual change in policy.
School Meals Week organiser LACA said ahead of this year’s promotion that in the aftermath of lockdown, it has become more important than ever for children to return to eating hot, balanced meals during lunchtime.
Running from Monday [November 8] to today [November 12], the wider theme for this year’s School Meals Week campaign has been ‘The School Tucker Trial’. The week has included five individual themed days covering various key aspects around food, such as encouraging the consumption of five portions of fruit and vegetables per day; highlighting the role of food as fuel for our bodies; promoting local produce; the benefits of plant-based food; and education about agriculture and where our food comes from.
Although National School Meals Week takes place every November, the campaign website contains tools and resources that schools can access to help promote their healthy catering services the whole year round.
Nigel Attwood, headteacher at Bellfield Junior School in Birmingham, believes that it has become more important than ever for all pupils to have access to healthy food at school and to understand the value of a balanced diet, which is key to maintaining full focus and fulfilling potential.
Attwood said: “It is vital for students to have good quality meals, even more so when you live in an area or household where poverty is an issue. Ensuring students are well fed at school, with food that is healthy and nutritional - and that they like and enjoy - helps children be settled for their learning.
“We know through our children what they like and don't like, and any changes made to our menus at Bellfield are in conjunction with discussions with our students. This ensures that children eat the food on offer and can continue to grow and develop well.”
Photo by Bradyn Trollip on Unsplash
