'Why can't we have Yorkshire puddings on more than one day?!'. As of January 2015, all maintained schools, new academies, and free schools are required to follow the standards of the School Food Plan. It was launched by the Department of Education and in line with the requirements for School Food Regulations 2014. As part of our auditing on a termly or sometimes monthly basis, Red Box analyse the school menu and offer seen on the day of our visit to confirm the standards are being met. So what are the School Food Standards?

 

The School Food Plan is a set of standards for all food served in schools and has been designed to make it easier for school cooks to create imaginative, flexible, and nutritious menus.

The Plan highlights the importance of variety within your menus, e.g. using different fruit and vegetables, a range of grains and pulses, and a variety of meats and fish. 

The School Food Plan advises that lunches should be made up of:

• One or more portions of starchy food each day, with at least one whole grain variety each week. 
• One or more portions of veg or salad and fruit every day, plus a dessert with at least 50% fruit twice or more a week. 
• A portion of dairy every day, with lower fat milk available for drinking. 
• A portion of meat, fish, eggs, beans or non-dairy protein every day, with meat or poultry on at least three days a week and oily fish once or more every three weeks. Tinned tuna does not count as oily fish.
• No more than two portions of deep-fried, battered or bread-crumbed food each week, and no more than two portions of pastry each week. Battered products includes Yorkshire pudding and deep fried includes your chips on a Friday and/or your breadcrumbed fish. Therefore if you provide oven chips with battered fish once a week and a Yorkshire pudding on a roast day, that is your quota for the week. This is designed to promote healthier cooking methods and less 'fast food'.
• Nuts, seeds, veg, and fruit with no added salt, sugar or fat as snacks. 
• No confectionery or chocolate this includes chocolate chips, marshmallows, sweets etc and is across the school day including afterschool club tuck shops.
• Plain water, lower fat milk, fruit juice, tea, coffee, and hot chocolate drinks.

The Plan also raises awareness of how much children love to hear the stories behind their food. This means that schools should look to use fresh, sustainable, and local ingredients and use these factors to educate children about what they are eating.

Why not display the School Food Plan in your dining area and/or kitchen to spread awareness of healthy eating and school responsibilities.

The School Foods Standards (publishing.service.gov.uk)