More than 20 years ago, when I started the campaign and TV series School Dinners, I couldn’t believe that we had standards for dog food but no standards for the food we fed our children at school. I have never, and will never, stop banging that drum – even after this week’s momentous announcement on school food standards in England. Because it is so important we remember where we started from.
Children in the state sector are at school for 190 days a year. And if they’re eating breakfast and lunch there, the majority of what they consume each day is in the hands of their school. When we know that children are consuming less than half the recommended fruit and vegetables, but twice the recommended sugar, school food is a massive opportunity to directly improve diets at scale.
But eating good food around a shared table isn’t just important for children’s health. It’s a core part of a child’s social connection and sense of belonging. Well-fed kids are happier, have more energy and fewer days off school due to sickness, and their learning and behaviour improve, too.
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It’s no surprise that 80% of teachers agree that unhealthy food at lunch and breaktime can lead to disruptive behaviour, and 85% say diet affects pupils’ ability to concentrate.
But we didn’t need scientific evidence to tell us that – who doesn’t feel and perform better when their bellies are full of the good stuff? Get school food right and the prize is massive. Not just for children today, but for the adults they will become. Feed children well and we give them a better chance of healthier lives, greater productivity and less long-term pressure on the NHS and social care from diet-related disease. That’s no small change when current estimates are that obesity, and its knock-on consequences, costs the UK economy about £126bn each year.
That is why it’s so great to see the government announce new standards, based on the latest science. It’s the first time in a decade. And it means, for this generation of kids, they will be nourished with more fruit and vegetables, fibre-rich proteins and whole grains. Beautiful stuff.
It’s a big and much-needed update, but we know that amazing schools, caterers and chefs can rise to the challenge. Through my Good School Food awards, we have shown amazing school food is possible and affordable, and it’s happening right now in schools across the UK.
Take Chef Russ in Bournemouth. Working out of a cupboard-sized kitchen, he has transformed the food at his school. Not only has the school increased the uptake of meals from 28% to 98%, there’s a waiting list of parents keen to nab their kids a place there.
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We see this pattern in schools up and down the country, and we have to keep telling these stories again and again because it goes against what many people think they know – that kids simply won’t eat the “good stuff”. We have heard that for decades. And we get it, because the food environment we all struggle with makes it hard to eat well, and so this seems to chime with our experience. But school is different. It’s a rare, protected space where that noise can be stripped away.
And when it is, remarkable things happen. Children eat – and enjoy – delicious, nutritious food. The evidence is clear: when the food is good and the environment is supportive, over time school meal uptake increases.
What makes me excited is these standards won’t just sit on a piece of paper. There will be proper monitoring to make sure they are actually followed. Not to nit-pick. Not to catch schools out. But so we know what’s working, where schools are doing brilliantly, and where we need to deploy care, love and support to help them get it right. That’s where the School Food Project comes in. We know not all lunch trays are created equal, which is why we are partnering with Bite Back, Chefs in Schools, School Food Matters and the Food Foundation to help to make sure these new standards can really be for everyone.
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These new school food standards will finally fix what is on children’s school plates, but it’s only half the job we have to do. A delicious lunch nourishes a child for the afternoon, but teaching them how to cook nourishes them for the rest of their life. You can serve the best meals in the world, but if a child leaves school without knowing how to feed themselves, that’s where it stops.
That is why food education must be absolutely central to transforming school food. And it’s why I’m passionate about giving kids (and adults) the skills, knowledge and confidence to cook from scratch. My dream has always been simple: I want every single child to leave school knowing 10 core skills that will save their life.
My free 10 skills food education programme teaches kids basic, bulletproof culinary foundations – how to chop safely, balance flavours, cook a nutritious staple meal from scratch, and stretch simple, fresh ingredients into something delicious. If kids leave school knowing how to cook a fast vegetable stir-fry, a simple soup, or how to make a loaf of bread, not only will they be healthier now, but they have options in the future.
With this cooking superpower they can feed themselves, and their future families, on a budget. That isn’t just a life skill: it’s health insurance for life.
