Thomas Franks Community (TF Community) and Surplus to Purpose have joined forces to launch a new state school catering offer, piloting the first two schools this month. A people-driven initiative, TF Community aims to address the imbalance that exists in school-based food and nutrition.
This not-for-profit venture uses high quality surplus produce to add much-needed nutrition to schools meals, freeing up more of each state school’s budget to recruit and train chefs. This approach improves the standard of food by teaching chefs how to work with fresh produce rather than ultra-processed foods. A recent study* showed that these foods account for almost two thirds of Britain’s state school meals and are generally higher in salt, saturated fats and sugars. Surplus produce is sourced from farms and wholesalers with a focus on seasonal fruit and vegetables.
Quotes from week one which convey some of the reactions to this new initiative:
“The students are loving the three or four choices of fresh fruit available each day.”
“The fryers have been on once this week for the fish; historically they would have been on every day.”
“Some of the children have never tried some of these types of food before.”
Despite the 5-a-day fruit and vegetable campaign launched 19 years ago, only 8% of 11-18 year olds are hitting this target. Fruit and vegetable intake is at an all-time low and disproportionately affects lower income families. All children receive free fresh fruit as standard under our new scheme, to encourage an increase in vitamins, minerals and fibre in their diets.
Our model is significantly different from the traditional offer and part of the pilot is focused on ensuring that changes happen in a phased way so that we can introduce the students to new foods while incorporating some familiar favourites. We are aware that it will take some time for students’ palates to adjust to our new food offer. To help facilitate this, focus groups and informal parent visits with the catering team have been organised to provide reassurance.
Once this initial phase is completed, we hope to roll this scheme out across the country and would encourage head teachers to reach out if they would like to join our movement to improve nutritional standards in state schools.
The next phase of the pilot will focus on students being provided with additional meals to take home for evenings and weekends through our Feeding Communities programme. Our vision is for the school to act as local hub, serving the community and tackling the issue of food insecurity head on. Part of this approach will be to open up the catering department at Heald Place as a training centre to teach parents and their children how to cook nutritious meals on a budget.
Frank Bothwell, Founder of Thomas Franks says: ‘I am delighted to be working with Heald Place, a truly inspirational school with great leadership. Communities, food quality for the children and charity are at the very heart of this new relationship. This really is all about doing the best for the community, the children and the planet. Demonstrating that putting people and the planet before profit is the only right thing to do for all.’
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