Merry Christmas!

Last post from SFM for 2009.  Let's finish with some pics of how Sheen Mount celebrated their Christmas.  A splendid school lunch served by the teachers and finished off with a cracker or two compliments of the PTA.

See you in 2010!

Thank you!

Huge thank you to Grey Court, Sheen Mount and Richard Challoner students for their tireless work helping to feed 5000 people yesterday in Trafalgar Square.  Twenty-five volunteers braved the snow to hand out free fruit and vegetables to the assembled masses.  "What's wrong with it?" they were asked, as they handed out bags of fresh produce "Absolutely nothing!" was the reply. Students even got a chance to lobby their local MP on the issue, when Susan Kramer arrived in the Square.

Seeing great mountains of fresh fruit and veg that would have been dumped had it not have been scooped up by the organisers of Feeding the 5000, was a potent image and one that these students won't forget in a hurry.  For more, watch the Guardian video.

Meeting with Richmond Council

Bravo Richmond Council for convening the first school meals working party meeting yesterday.  Gathered around the table were heads from Queen's School, St Mary Magdalen's,and Orlean's Infants, parents representing Holy Trinity and Hampton Junior, and AVL Consultancy, the borough's school meals monitoring service.  The group will meet half termly until we have reached our aims which are to:

• Investigate best practice and best value school meals provision at schools in the borough outside the Sodexo contract and within other local authority areas
• Consider which schools are, or are likely to become, able to accommodate a cooked-from-fresh school meals provision
• Consider the best way forward if the School Lunch Grant is discontinued at the end of March 2011
• Set criteria (including the matching of diverse needs, e.g. Halal meat, as appropriate), to form the basis of a tendering specification, for a school meals service that would build upon the recent improvement in provision within the borough and lead to much increased take-up
• Present its findings in a report to be considered by Primary Headteachers’ Forum, at its summer term meeting in 2010, and by LBRuT officers, with the aim of achieving clear consensus for a recommendation to be made to the authority’s Cabinet.
  

There was an excellent 'brainstorming' session on what a new contract would look like.  Site visits are to be scheduled for January and a parent survey is in the pipeline.  We're off to a flying start!

Feeding the 5000

Good article in The Independent about Feeding the 5000.  If anyone is wondering how 5000 people can really have a free lunch in Trafalgar Square go to the Feeding the 5000 website!

Feeding the 5000

Delighted to say that SFM is partnering with Feeding the 5000 to support an event which will highlight the amount of food we waste in the UK and internationally.  Tristram Stuart, author of Waste, is the force behind this event which will see 5000 people sharing lunch at Trafalgar Square produced from food that would otherwise have been wasted.  Feeding the 5000 will take place at Trafalgar Square on Wednesday 16th December from 12-2pm.  If you would like to volunteer, please contact SFM, or go to the Feeding the 5000 website. 

BBC Food and Farming Awards

As promised, here's the full speech made by the Prince of Wales at the BBC Food and Farming Awards.  Inspiring stuff.

BBC Food and Farming Awards

Bless Prince Charles for his speech at the BBC Food and Farming Awards.  Reminds us all why we do what we do.  You can listen again here for 7 days, then I'll try and get a transcript to download and pin on the wall!