School Food Matters

We're back and ready for 2012

2012-01-03T11:10:00.002Z

Happy New Year! At SFM we're looking forward to a busy new year but we thought it was worth looking back at one important event from 2011. The team at Feeding the 5000 has produced a great film which sums up our day at Trafalgar Square. Enjoy it by clicking here then look in your fridge for any Christmas leftovers and remember Feed Bellies not Bins!

School Food Standards for All!

2011-12-05T16:44:00.004Z

Following Jamie Oliver's appearance on BBC Breakfast and the media coverage that followed, SFM and fellow food campaigners met last week at JO HQ to discuss the way forward; how do we persuade the government to rethink its decision to make free schools and academies exempt from school food standards? We believe the place from which to lead the charge is the Jamie Oliver website, and you can show your support by reading his letter and going to the new Save our School Food Facebook page.

More funding from Capital Growth

2011-12-05T16:23:00.002Z

Look out food growers - Capital Growth has just launched another funding round. It's open to new and expanding community food growing spaces in London to help with capital costs. Grants are of up to £750 and the deadline is Monday 16 January at 5pm. For further details click here!

Lunch at Robin Hood Primary

2011-11-30T16:52:00.004Z

SFM was lucky enough to enjoy roast turkey and seasonal veg at Robin Hood Primary in Kingston. This was our first taste of the new meal offer from Cygnet which now meets the Food for Life Catering Mark Bronze standard. Robin Hood is also enjoying the benefits of a brand new kitchen which means that all school meals are cooked fresh every day on site. And the children are loving the new food with over half the school opting for hot meals. One year 6 boy summed it up "It looks nicer, it tastes nicer and it's healthy!"

SFM Autumn Update is here!

2011-11-28T17:00:00.004Z

The SFM Autumn Update is here. If you didn't get one, please read more and don't forget to Sign up for our Newsletter so you don't miss out next time!

Welcome to the SFM Autumn Update. Just when things should be settling down for winter, we've got lots of new projects springing into action!

NEW SCHOOL FOOD

Children at 60 Richmond and Kingston primary schools are enjoying new school meals - freshly cooked from sustainable ingredients. Both boroughs have seen an increase in take up during the first half term: Richmond an 18% increase compared with September 2010 and Kingston an increase of 24% compared with October 2010. But at SFM we wanted to know what the real customers thought, so we've been out and about having lunch. Reviews from Richmond children have ranged from "The custard is actually smooth!" to our favourite from a year 4 student, "It just tastes nicer". We're off to Kingston schools this week and all reviews will be posted on our home page.

NEW KITCHEN GARDEN IDEAS

Just before half term, SFM piloted the new Kitchen Garden Ideas. We challenged our friendly chef, Paul Merrett, to cook whatever was growing at Grey Court School. At this time of year it was slim pickings but our intrepid chef got in amongst the brassicas and found some lovely Rainbow Chard. Thankfully the Grey Court hens came up trumps and laid some lovely eggs so Paul was able to guide 17 lucky year 10s through a winning recipe for Rainbow Chard Frittata. The recipe and some growing tips from Blue Peter Gardener, Chris Collins, will appear on our website next week so that you can all have a go at home.

NEW CHICKS!

Talking of eggs, The Russell School has just welcomed the new recruits to Grey Court's chicken project. As part of a community outreach programme, local primary schools will be given fertile eggs to hatch at school so that they too can keep chickens and sell the free range eggs to staff and parents. The Russell now has six chicks which will need to hurry up and grow some feathers so that they can enjoy life outside. More primary schools will be joining the project in the spring and you can follow progress on Twitter @gccchickens.

NEW POTATOES

Primary schools can now sign up for FREE potato growing kits from the Potato Council. Grow your own Potatoes teaches primary aged children about growing spuds by supplying a growing kit, supporting lesson plans and worksheets. You'll also get a chance to win prizes for your school by entering the competition once you have harvested. What are you waiting for? You can register here.

NEW LONDON FOOD LEAGUE TABLE

Our friends at Sustain and London Food Link have produced a league table to celebrate leadership on healthy and sustainable food. Local Authorities in London were scored on seven criteria including school meals, community food growing and Fairtrade and Richmond came out second, with Islington on top. The table is also a good way to find out where SFM needs to work next so that all London boroughs can follow Islington and Richmond's impressive leads. To find out how your borough fared, click here and let us know if we can help.

and finally, an old favourite ...

FEEDING THE 5000

Remember tales of a snowy day in Trafalgar Square in 2009? Well the Feeding 5K team was out in force again last week to highlight the problem of food waste. SFM was delighted to be a charity partner and came along with 100 school children to distribute fruit and veg - that was destined for landfill - to grateful passersby. The students also gave out a powerful message about the amount of perfectly good food that is wasted every day by businesses and households when 4 million people in the UK alone live in food poverty. Within two hours, 5000 people had been served a delicious vegetable curry under a banner declaring "Feed bellies not bins!"

That's probably enough for now. Next stop spring!

Jamie Oliver on BBC Breakfast

2011-11-25T11:24:00.003Z

It was good to see Jamie Oliver on BBC Breakfast this morning calling on parents to stand up and campaign to protect school food standards. Academies and free schools will not have to adhere to the standards which came as a result of the Feed me Better campaign in 2005. Already a third of our secondary schools could abandon the strict government guidelines that keep junk food off school menus.

At SFM we hope that all schools now value the standards, have seen the positive impact on behaviour and attainment, and will continue to implement them, but we call on Michael Gove to make them mandatory for all schools to safeguard children's health and well-being.

Food for Life Partnership are winners!

2011-11-23T17:15:00.004Z

Huge congratulations to our friends at Food for Life Partnership who have just been awarded the prestigious BBC Radio 4 Derek Cooper Award at this year's Food and Farming Awards ceremony. The award recognises 'unsung heroes, whose work has increased our access to, and knowledge and appreciation of, good food'.

London Food Map

2011-11-21T10:28:00.003Z

Those clever people at Sustain have put together a brilliant report to show how each of the London boroughs is doing in relation to food. SFM is delighted to report that Richmond has come out on top with Islington in this audit of progress on action to promote health and sustainability through good food. School meals have contributed to this fantastic achievement. Kingston too has shown great leadership in promoting food growing through its commitment to find new growing spaces for the Capital Growth campaign. How's your borough doing? Click here to read the full report.

SFM children featured in the Guardian

2011-11-21T09:48:00.004Z

Click here to read about Feeding the 5000 in the Guardian. There's a lovely photo of the East Sheen Primary children enjoying their lunch, served by Boris Johnson and made from food diverted from landfill.

Junior Campaigners triumph in Trafalgar Square!

2011-11-18T15:40:00.007Z

Junior campaigners from Grey Court School and East Sheen Primary were out in force today to support Feeding the 5000. School Food Matters invited 100 students to help distribute fruit and veg, that was destined for landfill, to grateful passersby. They also gave out a powerful message about the amount of perfectly good food that is wasted every day by businesses and households when 4 million people in the UK alone live in food poverty. The Bishop of London listened intently as Grey Court students explained why they had got involved.

Within two hours, charity partner Fareshare had served up delicious vegetable curry to 5000 people, with London's Mayor, Boris Johnson on hand to dish up lunch for children from East Sheen Primary.

All the students made excellent ambassadors and gathered hundreds of pledges from the crowds to reduce food waste.

Feeding the 5000

2011-11-17T15:11:00.004Z

At SFM we're very much looking forward to our free lunch in Trafalgar Square tomorrow! Along with 100 students from two Richmond schools, we'll be handing out fresh fruit and veg that was destined for land fill and turning it into a delicious lunch for 5000 people. And you're all invited. For more info, go to the Feeding the 5000 website.

Jamie O's Manifesto

2011-10-31T18:10:00.004Z

The half term break seemed to trigger much excitement in the world of school food with the launch of Jamie Oliver's Manifesto and the reaction and press response that followed. At SFM we salute this new push for a government commitment to healthy school meals and food education. SFM's work with the Food Growing in Schools Task Force gets a mention along with support for a continuation of the Food for Life Partnership's work in schools. Great to see partnership working amongst the movers and shakers in school food.

New Capital Growth Funding Round

2011-10-17T13:08:00.002+01:00

Our friends at Capital Growth have just launched the latest round of grants with up to £750 on offer to groups in London who wish to start or expand community food-growing space. The deadline for applications is 5pm on Monday 7 November so get busy over half term! To apply click here.

Jamie O's response to Government Obesity Strategy!

2011-10-13T17:57:00.004+01:00

Jamie Oliver's personal statement on the Government Obesity Strategy is definitely worth a read. At SFM our favourite line is:

"This whole strategy is just worthless, regurgitated, patronising rubbish. Any of us could walk into any primary school in the country and find plenty of 8 year olds with more creative solutions to these problems. It's a farce." Now we're pretty sure you'll want to read the rest!

“As expected, I'm far from impressed with the government’s empty, pointless obesity strategy. It's clear they don't know what to do and are incapable of any vision.

Simply telling people what they already know - that they need to eat less and move more - is a complete cop out. The country’s bill of health isshocking, and it's not going to get any better over the next 30 years if a clearly defined plan isn't put into place soon. We simply can't afford the financial or health costs of doing nothing. This government might be able to navigate us slowly out of a recession, but it has no clue about how to make sustainable change in the short or long term, or how to inspire, enforce or empower public health.

This whole strategy is just worthless, regurgitated, patronising rubbish. Any of us could walk into any primary school in the country and find plenty of 8 year olds with more creative solutions to these problems. It's a farce.

I know for a fact that all the solutions lie with the wonderful, diverse people of this country. We need a government that inspires change then legislates and finances that change. Being in a recession is not an excuse to not use the appropriate means across business, education, food industry and advertising. If the government doesn't get this right, we're on track for something costly and disastrous. It will erode the health, creativity, productivity and ultimately the profitability of our country.

Personally I'm really upset and let down. And I am positive any food expert, scientist or parent that cares will feel the same.

The British public will always react well if they are given a good plan, guidance and clarity. Sadly our government has let us down on all fronts. Education is the key here. We need to give people the knowledge to be able to make better choices before we start making empty noises about encouraging people to eat better food. I have seen myself that giving practical information and teaching within schools and communities can make a real difference. We need more practical help and less hot air. “

Roast Dinner Day

2011-10-12T14:52:00.004+01:00

Sheen Mount Primary School celebrated Food for Life's Roast Dinner Day in style with 280 helpings of roast turkey, roast potatoes, carrots, leeks, broccoli and lashings of gravy. School meals provider Caterlink served roast dinners today to children across Camden and Islington too and on Monday all the schools in those two contracts will receive their Silver Food for Life Partnership awards. Bravo Caterlink!

Mary's Meals World Porridge Day

2011-10-10T11:53:00.003+01:00

Porridge enthusiasts are being invited to take part in a major event to raise awareness of hungry children around the world on Mary's Meals World Porridge Day. To many in the UK, porridge is a hearty breakfast, but to over 479,000 school-children in Malawi, who receive a daily mug of nutritious maize-based likuni phala from Mary’s Meals, it is a powerful incentive to go school, and the only nutritious meal they may eat each day. It costs Mary’s Meals just £6.15 to provide a daily meal to child for a whole school year so support Mary's Meals and why not try porridge for lunch today!

"The custard is actually smooth!"

2011-10-06T17:30:00.004+01:00

Another cracking review from Richmond's primary school children. Thanks to St Osmund's in Barnes for inviting SFM to sample their new meals; pasta bake with a lovely crunchy salad followed by a very fruity pear sponge cake, making the most of the season's delicious pears. Can someone please invite us to celebrate Food for Life Partnership's Roast Dinner Day on Wednesday 12 October?

Calling all Garden Heroes

2011-09-20T16:45:00.002+01:00

Those busy bees at Capital Growth are now looking for Garden Heroes. What a great way to reward those who help to keep your food-growing spaces ship shape and fruitful! You could win £250 by nominating your Garden Hero and guess what? Your Hero could win £250 too. Enter by Monday 10 October by following the links here.

"It just tastes nicer!"

2011-09-15T15:36:00.002+01:00

The first review from the children of LB Richmond on their new school meals is here. Praise for yesterday's lunch of roast chicken, roast parsnips, savoy cabbage and roast potatoes ranged from "yummy" to "I like this cabbage". The children at Holy Trinity CE Primary were less fussed about Richmond's exacting food standards and summed up the meals in four magic words "It just tastes nicer!" Keep up the good work ISS.

British Food Fortnight

2011-09-15T15:31:00.001+01:00

This Saturday heralds the start of British Food Fortnight which runs from 17 September-3 October. The fortnight has become an established date on the school calendar with over 30,000 schools participating nationwide in activities relating to local and seasonal food. For ideas on how to celebrate British food at your school download case studies, resource packs and cooking guides from the website. You can even host one of the fortnight’s 9,000 volunteer chefs who will come and run a cooking class with students.

FREE things for schools growing food!

2011-09-08T15:12:00.004+01:00

Our friends at Capital Growth are offering schools a free Rocket Gardens Autumn/Winter Growing Pack that will provide your school with all the plants you need to grow your own vegetables and salads during the darker months of the year. Plus, by joining now a number of schools will be selected to win an exclusive food-growing training session delivered by an experienced grower/trainer on site at your school. If you would like to take up this offer you will need to join Capital Growth and complete a short online form by Monday, 19th September. To join, please go to click here and follow the on-screen instructions. Good luck!

Back to School

2011-09-07T11:35:00.003+01:00

It's great to know that children across LB Kingston and Richmond went to school yesterday and enjoyed the new look catering services. Organic milk, bread and yoghurt, free-range eggs and Freedom Food chicken and pork will be on the menu all prepared either on site at school or within the boroughs. SFM will be out and about over the next couple of weeks to check out the new lunches and to ask the customers what they think! Look out for some tasty pics and the odd killer comment from those harsh critics.

School Produce Sale Handbook is here!

2011-07-29T18:00:00.003+01:00

SFM is signing off for summer so we thought we'd give you some holiday reading. Our School Produce Sale handbook is now published and you can download a copy from our Growing Ideas page. It's packed full of top tips and words of wisdom from our junior gardeners - the perfect summer read. Ping us an email if you'd like a hard copy and we'll post it to you when we return refreshed and reinvigorated on Tuesday 30 August. Enjoy the sunshine!

School Produce Sale - Facts and Figures

2011-07-18T14:32:00.007+01:00

Excellent feedback from schools and Waitrose branches following our School Produce Sale last Thursday. BBC London featured Balham branch as they hosted Sacred Heart Primary. SFM is busy putting together a handbook celebrating the project with lots of top tips and valuable insights from the students as they try out their considerable enterprise skills! Read more to find extra photos and some great stats ...

19 schools took part across 10 branches of Waitrose in London
1,247 children were directly involved
41 types of vegetables, fruit and herbs were grown for sale
Beetroot was the most popular vegetable sold
952 School Food Matters recycled paper bags were used
Food growing was linked to 11 different curriculum subjects
A total of £2,137.59 was taken on the day!
Highest sales were taken by Cardinal Wiseman School - £312.33
Largest area devoted to food growing was the equivalent of two football pitches!
Smallest area devoted to food growing was a wheelbarrow full of strawberries

Get your home grown veg!

2011-07-14T13:37:00.003+01:00

Schools across London are fast selling out of their home grown veg as customers bypass Waitrose checkouts for the children's market stalls. Thank you Waitrose for supporting this wonderful project. More photos to follow but for now, read about it in the Guardian and watch us on BBC London at 6.30pm.

Blue Peter Gardener Meets the Caterer

2011-07-14T09:28:00.002+01:00

Chris Collins came over to York House yesterday to congratulate LB Richmond and ISS Education on their commitment to food growing in schools. The new school meals contract for 30 primary schools includes an offer of free gardening equipment for schools who want to get growing their own fruit and veg. Chris was delighted that Richmond has recognised the importance of encouraging children to get their hands dirty to support their food education journey.

The Meet the Caterer event was an opportunity for parents and teachers from 30 primary schools to hear about the new Food for Life Silver service available from September. ISS provided delicious tasters of the new menu to inspire the crowd. SFM will now be encouraging attendees to return to their schools and families to spread the good news so that parents can sign up to school meals from September with confidence.

Countdown to School Produce Sale 2011

2011-07-12T18:58:00.004+01:00

Twenty schools across London are polishing their home grown veg ahead of our School Produce Sale on Thursday. Ten branches of Waitrose will play host to the young gardeners as they sell the fruits of their labours to customers from their communities.

East Sheen, Kingston, Raynes Park, Balham, Ruislip, Northwood, South Harrow, Barbican, Holloway Road and Fulham branches are participating so come on down at 11am and buy some delicious fruit and veg! All proceeds will go straight back the schools to enable them to keep on growing.

Meet the Caterer

2011-07-12T18:50:00.003+01:00

SFM is all geared up and looking forward to our Meet the Caterer event tomorrow evening. Teachers and parents from the 30 schools in the new Richmond school meals contract have been invited to hear from Food for Life guru, Jeanette Orrey and Blue Peter gardener, Chris Collins on why fresh sustainable food and food education is so important. And we'll all get to taste some great food from ISS's Silver Mark menu!

Good Food for All

2011-06-22T17:43:00.003+01:00

SFM has just come back from a day with Food for Life Partnership as they launch their new report, Good Food for All. Independent research, summarised in the report, reveals the success of five years of the Partnership working with 3600 schools and communities to transform food culture. If your school hasn't yet enrolled, read this report and you'll wonder what you've been waiting for!

Capital Bee

2011-06-21T11:32:00.009+01:00

Help Capital Bee help London's bees by watching this film!

And more good news ...

2011-06-20T14:44:00.002+01:00

It's about time SFM said a huge congratulations to Judy Hargadon following the news that the School Food Trust chief executive has been awarded an OBE. Well deserved indeed and a fantastic endorsement which will help to keep school food firmly on the agenda.

Great News from Sustainable Fish City

2011-06-20T14:21:00.002+01:00

SFM was delighted to hear from our friends at Sustain that the government has committed to using sustainable fish in all its catering at Number 10, Whitehall, prisons and some parts of the armed forces. This will improve the meals of nearly 400,000 people. Read more here.

Some interesting Capital Growth Spaces

2011-06-20T14:06:00.002+01:00

Have a look at some really innovative ways of bringing food growing to an urban environment.

We have moved!

2011-05-27T15:02:00.010+01:00

School Food Matters has moved. Our new office details are now on our Contact Us page but here they are again 151 Sheen Lane, London SW14 8LR T: 020 8878 8333

2011-05-24T18:14:00.002+01:00

Sign up now for Capital Growth's ABSeed competition and you could win a chance to meet the mayor or a day for two students at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen. What are you waiting for? Register before Friday 3 June and get your entry in by Wednesday 8 June. You can do all that here!

SFM at the Chelsea Flower Show

2011-05-23T20:40:00.003+01:00

SFM was on duty at the Chelsea Flower Show this morning. Our friend Chris Collins came to meet with members of the Food Growing in Schools Taskforce at a wonderful garden produced by schoolchildren. Environment Secretary, Caroline Spelman popped in to meet some of the young gardeners and Chris was able to share a few tips on growing veg. The garden was sponsored by Scotts Miracle Gro in association with The Sun newspaper.

100,000 FREE Tomato Plants

2011-05-19T13:30:00.003+01:00

Come along to Trafalgar Square on Friday 20 May between 6.30am and 2.00pm and pick up some FREE tomato plants. B&Q have kindly donated a massive 100,000 plants in support of Capital Growth. Read more here then go and dust off your wheelbarrow!

Sow and Grow at Ham House

2011-05-16T10:11:00.003+01:00

It was a pleasure to meet lots of local parents at Ham House yesterday. SFM was on duty at Sow and Grow; a celebration of food growing. Richmond parents were delighted by the outcome of the school food working party and looking forward to fresh sustainable food for their children in September. This event will be followed by a harvest event in September; Home Grown at Ham.

Agreed!

2011-05-12T18:19:00.000+01:00

SFM had the pleasure of presenting to the Cabinet meeting at Richmond Council this week. The Cabinet met to consider a report on the future of school meals and agreed with the working parties recommendation for ISS to deliver a Food for Life Silver menu to 29 primary schools from September. The formal conclusion to four years of campaigning. Hurrah!

Become a Farmer

2011-05-12T17:36:00.000+01:00

If you want to really learn about where your food comes from this could be for you. You can become a farmer and help to run a real-life working farm in Cambridgeshire - all from your computer. My Farm is a National Trust project and is inviting 10,000 people to join in. 200 schools have already registered and SFM may well be joining in too!

Fun at the Real Food Festival

2011-05-10T11:44:00.002+01:00

SFM played host to 300 school children at the Real Food Festival last Friday. The students from 25 different London schools came face to face with goats, sheep, chickens and buffalo and had a go at pasta and pesto making. If your school would like to come along next year, sign up for our newsletter!

All this and a new website too!

2011-05-05T20:38:00.005+01:00

Look at our lovely new website! Lots of new features and many more to follow. You can sign up for our newsletter at the press of a button and read all the latest news and research. Phew! What a week ...

Hurrah! Richmond Schools get Silver service.

2011-05-05T20:26:00.004+01:00

Campaigning works! Richmond parents asked for freshly prepared sustainable food and they've got it. From September school meals in 29 primary schools in LB Richmond will meet Silver Food for Life standards. Read the press release below. Happy Days.

PRESS RELEASE 04/05/11

From September, 29 primary schools in LB Richmond will be receiving freshly prepared school meals which meet the Food for Life Silver Catering Mark. This means that children are guaranteed to receive high-quality food made from sustainable ingredients free-range eggs, ‘Red Tractor’ meat, Freedom Food chicken and pork, organic milk and bread, and with no GM ingredients. Furthermore, parents will be thrilled with the news that the price they pay per meal will be reduced by up to 40p.

The new contract with ISS Facility Services as a successor to the current contractor Sodexo, is the result of months of partnership working by Richmond's school meals working party and the happy conclusion to four years campaigning by the local charity School Food Matters. SFM was able to bring to the working party quality research and the expertise of partner organisations championing sustainable public sector food, particularly Sustain; the alliance for better food and farming and the Food for Life Partnership.

Stephanie Wood, Campaign Director and key member of the school meals working party said "The 500 parents that signed our petition and a further 700 parents that responded to the SFM survey asked for freshly prepared sustainable school food. They have finally got what they asked for. This is a triumph for parent power and evidence of what can be achieved when a local authority invites all the players to the policy table. It's been a pleasure working with Richmond Council and local headteachers and I would recommend this process to any local authority that wants to provide a meal service they can be proud of."

Cabinet Member for Schools, Cllr Paul Hodgins, added: “I would like to congratulate the working party on the great work it has done for the participating schools’ pupils and parents."

School Food Matters has also been working with Kingston Council on their school meals contract. The Kingston contract will be awarded by the end of May and the winning caterer will be delivering Food for Life Bronze Standard menus to schools as a minimum.

Ends

Notes to editors

The contract starts in late July, with implementation of service from the start of the autumn term, and will last for three years with the option of extending it for two one-year periods.

ISS will invest up to £80,000 to improve kitchens at all 29 schools which are part of the deal so meals can be cooked on the premises.

ISS will harmonise terms and conditions of all staff so that no-one employed on the contract is worse off than anyone else at the equivalent grade. This addresses the concerns recently raised by Unison.

Real Food Festival - Grow your own Omelette

2011-05-05T20:08:00.003+01:00

And the winners are .... Edwalton Primary School and Warriner School. Congratulations to our two winners who each received a year's supply of Rocket Gardens and a £50 voucher from Flytes so Fancy. Our brilliant runners-up Grey Court School and Hampton Hill Junior each received a herb garden from Rocket Gardens. Tom Aikens did a wonderful job in the kitchen producing four perfect omelettes and our judges - Rosie Boycott, Ashley Palmer Watts and Lucas Hollweg - were extremely impressed by our budding chefs and food producers. Thank you all for a great day!

Food for Life Standards explained

2011-05-03T17:52:00.003+01:00

If you're still in the mood for watching films, try this one. Food for Life Partnership have explained about different farming methods. Remember when watching that SFM has successfully campaigned for Bronze standard as a minimum for schools in Richmond and Kingston.

Grow your Own Omelette

2011-05-03T17:22:00.003+01:00

Omelettes come in all shapes and sizes but only 'home-grown' omelettes are allowed through to this year's final of our competition for schools. The wonderful Tom Aikens will be on hand at the Real Food Festival to test and taste the four shortlisted recipes and with a panel of expert judges will announce the winner of the Grow your own Omelette competition.

Grey Court School, Warriner School, Hampton Hill Junior and Edwalton Primary will be nervously awaiting the results on Thursday at 12 noon. All the ingredients in their festival-worthy omelettes have been grown at school - that includes the eggs! May the best omelette win.

Eating to Save the Planet

2011-05-03T17:10:00.003+01:00

Thank you to the Food for Life Partnership for this great film. It's aimed at secondary school students but everyone can learn from this.

Come and see us at Real Food Festival

2011-05-03T13:50:00.002+01:00

School Food Matters is gearing up for this year's Real Food Festival. We have 300 students from 20 London schools attending and they can all look forward to a day of wonderful food education. Schools will meet farmers and producers and a few farm animals along the way. SFM is sharing a stand with School Farms Network and lots of lovely newly hatched chicks! Together we have put together the Grow your own Omelette competition and four lucky schools will be having their festival-worthy omelettes judged by a panel of food experts. Photos will follow!

2011-04-04T18:13:00.003+01:00

Come and hear School Food Matters talk about children and food at Kingston Market House Tuesday 5 April at 7pm. SFM will be joined on a panel by Merton campaigner, Jackie Schneider so it will be a lively debate. This event has been organised by Kingston's own organic fruit and vegetable box scheme, From the Ground Up.

Jamie Oliver speaks out.

2011-04-04T14:14:00.002+01:00

Today's the day that the school lunch grant loses it's ring fencing so that schools and local authorities can use it to cover other areas of their budgets. There are fears that, as LAs stop investing in school meal services, meal prices will rise. The Department for Education said 'We make no apologies for giving headteachers complete freedom over their budgets ...' Jamie Oliver said 'It's the long-term health, happiness and productivity of the future of our country that is at risk. I believe that any compromise on a child's right to a healthy school lunch ... is child abuse on an unimaginable scale.' Read more here.

Welcome to the Grey Court Chickens

2011-03-28T11:43:00.002+01:00

Forty feathered friends were warmly welcomed by Grey Court students on Friday afternoon. Each school house has its own hen enclosure with an individual breed of hen, so let the egg laying competition begin! Apart from providing free range eggs to the local community, the hens will be offering interesting data to the science department and will be resident muses for the faculty of art. You can follow progress on Twitter @gccchickens.

Report from Sustainable Development Commission

2011-03-28T11:02:00.003+01:00

Hot off the press, the Sustainable Development Commission's report to Government, Looking Back, Looking Forward, recommends that 'schools be supported to put further emphasis on practical food experience, including cooking skills and food growing, and to help educate future food citizenship skills including understanding of how marketing affects food choices.'

It also calls for mandatory health and sustainability standards for all publicly procured food. Hope someone at Whitehall is listening!

New Cooking Ideas

2011-03-17T16:22:00.002Z

Look! New Cooking Ideas from our lovely chefs, Tom Aikens and Paul Merrett. Thank you Big Lottery Awards for All for supporting this series of Cooking Ideas. We've got lots of lovely ideas for the summer term so watch this space.

Talking of Chickens ...

2011-03-17T13:45:00.003Z

School Food Matters was at Grey Court this morning and we spied four completed chicken houses all waiting for the grand arrival of 40 lovely hens. C-Day is Friday 25 March so watch this space for news of a photo opportunity!

Calling all Chickens

2011-03-16T17:22:00.003Z

SFM has once again teamed up with friends at the School Farms Network to launch a competition for the Real Food Festival. Last year was all about sausages - this year we're looking for schools with chickens to produce a festival-worthy omelette to be judged by a celebrity chef.

Your omelette must be made from ingredients produced entirely at school - from the eggs to the filling. Shortlisted schools will be invited to the Real Food Festival on Thursday 5 May and the winning primary school and secondary school will receive brilliant prizes. If you're up for the challenge, email us for our Terms and Conditions. Be quick! Deadline for your submission is Tuesday 5 April.

Valentine's Treat for Grange Primary

2011-02-14T14:23:00.002Z

Children at Grange Primary in Ealing enjoyed a special Valentine's treat when Tom Aikens paid a visit. Tom was at the school for another Cooking Ideas session and he was able to show the keen cooks his butternut squash risotto and a lovely apple tart. Tom also got a treat when the children presented him with Valentine's flowers and chocolates!

The recipes from this session will soon be available on the Cooking Ideas page of the SFM website.

Soil Association's Farm Academy Programme

2011-02-14T09:59:00.003Z

Here's a great new programme for schools. In association with Food for Life Partnership, the Soil Association has launched its Farm Academy Programme. They are looking for ten London schools to host farmers markets at school where they can sell their own home grown fruit and veg along with local farmers.

To get the schools inspired, the Soil Association will send your school on a 3 day residential visit to an organic farm. To apply, your school must sign up to Food for Life Partnership. For more contact Helen Carey on 07917 230122.

The Clink Restaurant

2011-01-27T18:05:00.002Z

SFM just had the pleasure of lunch at The Clink - a restaurant inside HMP High Down in Surrey. The project is the brainchild of chef, Alberto Crisci MBE and shows what can be achieved with a clear vision and lots of passion.

The vegetables at the restaurant are grown by inmates and the food prepared by inmates, who get the opportunity to achieve national catering qualifications, to gain work experience and guidance into full time employment. All the furniture in the beautiful dining room is constructed by inmates and each piece signed by the man who made it. And the food is delicious!

For more information about The Clink and how you can help this important charity click here.

A two minute treat from FACE and Bill Bailey

2011-01-27T10:44:00.001Z

Bill Bailey is now supporting FACE - Farm and Countryside Education. Together they have produced this hilarious video - treat yourself to two minutes of fun. Great work FACE!

New small grants round from Capital Growth

2011-01-25T14:50:00.003Z

Capital Growth has just announced another round of small grants targeting new community food growing spaces in London. Groups - including schools - can apply for grants up to £1000. Deadline for applications is Monday 14 February. What are you waiting for? Apply here.

Sustainable Fish City

2011-01-11T17:03:00.003Z

Delighted to announce that a new campaign was launched today by Sustain to make London the world's first Sustainable Fish City. To protect fish stocks and marine ecosystems, public sector bodies, caterers, restaurants, schools and individuals have pledged to follow the campaign's simple advice: Exclude the worst, promote the best, and improve the rest. Find out more here and don't forget to make the pledge!

Grow your Own Potatoes

2011-01-11T16:48:00.002Z

Have you registered to receive your free potato growing kit? Schools have until Friday 4 February to sign up. You can find out more information here and have a chance to win some great prizes. Be quick!

Richmond Borough in Bloom - Grants

2011-01-11T11:04:00.003Z

Richmond Borough in Bloom has launched a grants programme for schools to bid for up to £250 to start or develop a school garden. This rolling programme is accepting applications by 14 January, 6 May and 16 September and repeat applications can be made if a school demonstrates successful use of the earlier grant. For more information, please click here. What are you waiting for?

Happy New Year!

2011-01-04T11:48:00.003Z

Happy New Year! SFM is back and ready for another exciting year. To kick things off, here's news of a competition from Capital Bee, Capital Growth's new bee campaign. For your chance to win all the gear you need to keep bees, click here. Good luck!

New Cooking Ideas

2010-12-15T16:42:00.002Z

Pleased to report that we have some wonderful new Cooking Ideas ready for you to try at home during the Christmas hols. Paul Merrett from The Victoria and David Neil from London Early Years Foundation have joined Tom Aikens, and together we have created three more delicious meals for you to enjoy. Happy cooking!

Return of the Turkey Twizzler?

2010-12-15T13:44:00.003Z

The Food for Life Partnership has produced a report highlighting the threat to the school meal service and the perils of undoing all the good work achieved since standards were introduced in 2005. Return of the Turkey Twizzler? also celebrates the work of schools and local authorities across the country who have transformed school food by introducing a whole school approach to food.

Sustainable Food Bill

2010-12-15T12:44:00.003Z

Remember the Sustainable Food Bill - Joan Walley MP's private member's bill which was 'talked out' by filibustering Jacob Rees-Mogg? The good folk at Sustain have launched a campaign in response to the government's new plans for public sector food which, if they go ahead in their current format, will mean that food served to ministers will meet basic nutritional standards but the food served to patients in hospital will not. You can take action here.

School Meals Roundtable

2010-12-15T12:35:00.003Z

School Food Matters was invited to the House of Commons to be part of a roundtable discussion on school meals hosted by Shadow Education Minister, Sharon Hodgson MP. Campaigners, charities, MPs, academics, teachers and parents got together to update the minister on progress, challenges and good practice in school meals and to discuss our hopes for the future.

A smaller group has now formed to work on our collective vision and to make plans for a 2011 campaign. SFM trustee, Lindsay Graham will be part of this group which will discuss standards, the school lunch grant, extension of free school meals and universal school meals. The action group will report to the roundtable early in March.

Grey Court Community Chickens - The Movie!

2010-12-07T16:27:00.002Z

We've had a few requests from people who missed the short film about Grey Court Community Chickens. Many thanks to ITN's Sally Rourke for making this available to us and to all of our supporters for making this wonderful project possible. You can follow the progress of Grey Court's exciting project on Twitter.

Petition to Save our School Dinners - last chance!

2010-12-01T12:23:00.003Z

Wednesday 1st December is the last day you can sign the Soil Association's Save our School Dinners petition. The petition, asking for continued government investment in school meals, will be delivered to the Department for Education on Thursday 2nd December. SFM is supporting this important campaign, so please sign the petition and help us to get to 5000 signatures.

2010-11-30T13:52:00.002Z

One of SFM's favourite publications is The Jellied Eel. You can enjoy The Jellied Eel by joining the London Food Link and this year, the good folk at LFL have decided to make your christmas shopping easy by creating a lovely gift membership for you to give to your friends. If you take advantage of this christmas offer, you and the lucky recipient of the gift will be entered into a prize draw... and all this only costs £20 - bargain!

Voting Figures from The People's Millions

2010-11-30T13:07:00.004Z

The voting figures have just been released by The People's Millions. Another round of applause for this effort, as you will see that Grey Court Community Chickens outvoted all the other London projects by nearly 2500 votes! This amount of votes has been described by Lottery as 'very unusual for London'.

Delighted to see that our opposition on the night, On the Waterfront, won their funding as highest scoring runners-up. Great news for a wonderful project.

Broadcast Date	Name of project	Name of organisation	Number of votes received
22/11/2010	Eastlea Sensory Trike Track	Eastlea Community School	3377
22/11/2010	Howzat - Community Cricket	Featherstone High School	3176
23/11/2010	Grey Court Community Chickens	Grey Court School	6774
23/11/2010	On the Waterfront	Beauchamp Lodge Settlement	3575
24/11/2010	BANG Talent	BANG Edutainment Limited	2206
24/11/2010	Northbrook Park Community Play Area	Northbrook Park Community Group	4111
25/11/2010	Broadwaters Harmony Garden	Back to Earth Projects Limited	4350
25/11/2010	K and C Garden Buddies	Age Concern Kensington and Chelsea	1929

It's also interesting to note that Grey Court's nearest rivals were Broadwaters Harmony Garden - a Capital Growth space. A clear indication of what a tenacious bunch food campaigners can be! Thanks again to all those who picked up the phone.

Congratulations to Grey Court School!

2010-11-24T21:30:00.003Z

Congratulations to Grey Court School! Tonight they won their funding for Grey Court Community Chickens on The People's Millions. SFM sends a great big thank you to everyone who picked up the phone and voted for us yesterday and we look forward to introducing you to our feathered friends in the new year.

ITV kept the school on tenterhooks, only announcing the winners live on ITV London Tonight. The students nearly lifted the roof off the school building when they saw report, Sally Rourke, walk in carrying a very large cheque.

This has been the most wonderful community effort. Staff, students, families, local businesses, food campaigners, chefs, environmental groups and local charities have banded together to make the Grey Court Community Chicken project a reality. Bring on the first free range eggs!

SFM is wearing the T Shirt!

2010-11-23T11:59:00.003Z

We've tweeted, we've blogged, now we're even wearing the T-Shirt! All you have to do is vote TODAY for Grey Court Community Chickens. Here's that magic number 0871 626 88 41. Calls cost just 10p from a BT landline and your can vote 10 times! What are you waiting for?

It's time to vote for Grey Court Community Chickens!

2010-11-23T09:53:00.004Z

It's time to vote for Grey Court Community Chickens. Call this number before midnight and register your support!

0871 626 88 41

You can vote up to 10 times from a BT landline and it will only cost you 10p per call!

ITV come to Grey Court

2010-11-18T15:48:00.003Z

Great excitement at Grey Court as ITV came along to film for The People's Millions. The reporter got to meet the 'chicken team' at Grey Court, along with teachers that recognise the educational benefit of this project, year 3s from Sheen Mount who will benefit from the outreach programme and our wonderful poultry expert, John Hirons. Have a look at some great photos.

Capital Bee

2010-11-17T13:19:00.003Z

Capital Growth has launched its bee campaign and will be hosting a the London Bee Summit at the Southbank Centre on Thursday 16 December. If you want to help to protect the honey bee by learning about beekeeping in London, please come along. For more information go to the Capital Bee website.

Chicken News!

2010-11-16T17:46:00.003Z

For those of you not of the SFM 'chicken hit list', here's the latest on Grey Court Community Chickens. And don't forget to vote on Tuesday 23 November!

ONLY ONE WEEK TO GO!
Countdown to Grey Court's Community Chickens
Just one more week to go before students at Grey Court School appear on ITV London Tonight in the finals of The People’s Millions. On Tuesday 23 November Grey Court Community Chickens will go head-to-head with another London-based project to win enough public votes and secure funding.
Excitement is building as students at Grey Court and Sheen Mount Primary School prepare for their star appearance. ITV will be visiting the school on Thursday 18 November at 12.30pm to film the students as they are introduced to some feathery friends.
But Grey Court will not be waiting until their film goes to air to get voting. The school will be mobilizing its chicken team as soon as the magic phone number is released in the early edition of the Daily Mirror and will be working hard all day to get as many people to call from 9am until the lines close at midnight.
Meanwhile, students have been engaging their IT skills and have set up a Facebook page and Twitter account to spread the word. Please follow us!
Grey Court’s head teacher Maggie Bailey says, ‘This project will benefit everyone, improving things for the children and building links within our community. But, in the words of Louis Walsh – “We need your votes”. We are up against some stiff opposition so remember 23 November and vote-vote-vote!’.
The result of the head-to-head will be broadcast on ITV London News on Wednesday 24 November.
ENDS
For media enquiries please contact Stephanie Wood
stephanie@schoolfoodmatters.com
020 8392 5055/07948 247 692
www.schoolfoodmatters.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
Please vote! To help Grey Court Community Chickens win funding please vote by phone between 9am and midnight on Tuesday 23 November 2010. The voting phone number will be advertised on www.peoplesmillions.org.uk/2010-finalists/london/grey-court-community-chickens and in the Daily Mirror on the day.
ITV News will be visiting the school on Thursday 18 November at 12.30pm.
Grey Court Community Chickens will feature in a short film on Tuesday 23 November on the ITV London Tonight between 6.00pm and 6.30pm.
Grey Court School is at Ham Street, Ham, Richmond TW10 7HN. Grey Court plans to keep free-range hens in secure enclosures on the school grounds with students setting up an egg selling enterprise. Nearby primary schools can have equipment to hatch, rear and keep their own chicks, giving them a wonderful opportunity to experience the whole animal life cycle. Primary school chickens will be able to stay at the Grey Court ‘hen hotel’ in the holidays, cared for by the part-time poultry keeper who will also teach students and local people about all aspects of chicken keeping. Local families can get involved with the opportunity to board some of these chickens in the holidays.
Grey Court opened its community allotment in July 2010 and the community chickens are the next stage in plans to set up a small school farm. Keeping chickens is an easy and exciting way to start, by encouraging students to learn about caring for animals and producing fresh, local food.
School Food Matters campaigns for fresh sustainable food in schools and for children to understand where their food comes from. To achieve SFM listens to schools, parents and children. Together they urge local authorities to improve school meals and to support food education through cooking, growing and links with local farms.
The People's Millions is a partnership between Big Lottery Fund and ITV, where the public decides which local community projects get up to £50,000 of Lottery funding. http://www.peoplesmillions.org.uk/2010-finalists/london/grey-court-community-chickens

Filibustering (verb)

2010-11-15T10:09:00.006Z

Filibustering (verb) 'To act in an obstructive manner in a legislature, especially by speaking at inordinate length". What a sad day on Friday when SFM was introduced to the ludicrous practice of filibustering. Food campaigners were watching from the public gallery or on Parliament TV in anticipation of the second reading of the Sustainable Livestock Bill and the Public Bodies Sustainable Food Bill. Expecting lively constructive debate, we got Jacob Rees-Mogg MP reciting poetry and slowly listing the vegetables he disliked. After five long hours of this nonsense, the session was adjourned and both Bills failed to get a second reading. What a shameful display by Rees-Mogg and what a ridiculous waste of tax payers money!

Every School a Food Growing School

2010-11-11T17:27:00.003Z

SFM has been working with food campaigners and gardening charities to lobby the government to acknowledge the importance of food growing in schools. We want every child to enjoy the benefits of growing food at school. Today we gathered at Defra to deliver our report which can now be downloaded from the Sustain website.

You can read our press release here.

SFM Autumn Update is here

2010-11-10T14:47:00.005Z

If you have not received a copy of our Autumn Update, you can read it below. If you'd like to go our our mailing list to make sure that you don't miss out next time, just send us an email!

Welcome to the SFM Autumn Update. We start this newsletter with some egg-citing news from Grey Court School ...

GREY COURT COMMUNITY CHICKENS

Grey Court students are to appear on ITV London News in the finals of The People’s Millions competition on Tuesday 23 November. The school’s Grey Court Community Chickens will go head-to-head with another London-based project to win enough public votes to secure funding. Grey Court students need your help! On Tuesday 23 November you will receive an email with a number to call to register your vote. Calls cost 10p from a BT landline and you can vote 10 times.

This exciting project will give students at Grey Court and local primary schools a wonderful outdoor learning experience, from hatching and rearing chicks, to caring for the hens, and of course eating the lovely, fresh eggs. Local people will be able to buy eggs and volunteer or train to keep chickens too. But remember - we need your votes, so standby to receive that magic phone number on Tuesday 23 November!

GROWING IDEAS

SFM has produced a print version of its popular Growing Ideas in partnership with Kingston's sustainability unit. If you haven't received your copy, please email us and we'll pop a copy in the post. The guide contains handy hints on how to get started and lots of case studies to inspire you. Order your copy now so that you can plan your vegetable garden ready for spring.

COOKING IDEAS
Cooking Ideas is expanding! Based on the successful Tom Aikens model, SFM is delighted to report that two more chefs have been seen cooking up a storm in local schools. Paul Merrett from
The Victoria christened the brand new teaching kitchen at East Sheen Primary School and David Neil from the
London Early Years Foundation helped children at St Stephen's celebrate Black History Month with some caribbean cooking. Tom will be back this month working at Battersea Park High School and St Mary's Primary in Clapham. Look out for the recipes from all these sessions on our Cooking Ideas page.

SCHOOL MEALS

The school meals working parties in Richmond and Kingston have now completed work on specifications for the next contract. Richmond's specification has already caught the eye of campaign group
Good Food on a Public Plate and the council will receive an award for its commitment to sustainable food at GFPP's annual awards at City Hall this month. We're working hard to get Kingston's specification before the judges too. Both contracts specify Food for Life Bronze as a minimum standard based on successful working models in other London boroughs. Look out for further updates on the SFM website.

AND FINALLY ...
SFM has joined food campaigners across the country to persuade our new government to protect investment in school meals. For an update on the campaign, visit the special Soil Association webpage and please sign the petition. SFM has also been working with partners in the world of food growing to encourage the government to acknowledge the importance of food growing in schools. Our report will be delivered to Defra tomorrow and will be available for you to read on the SFM website.

Thanks for your continued support.

Two weeks to go ...

2010-11-09T12:24:00.003Z

SFM has just produced the next press release in the countdown to Grey Court's appearance on People's Millions. Look out for updates here and don't forget to vote on Tuesday 23 November!

TWO WEEKS TO GO!

Countdown to Grey Court's Community Chickens

Only two weeks to go before students at Grey Court School appear on ITV London News in the finals of The People’s Millions. On Tuesday 23 November Grey Court Community Chickens will go head-to-head with another London-based project to win enough public votes and secure funding.

Grey Court’s head teacher Maggie Bailey says, ‘This project will benefit everyone, improving things for the children and building links within our community. But,in the words of Louis Walsh – “We need your votes”. We are up against some stiff opposition so remember 23 November and vote-vote-vote!’.

Local residents are being encouraged to get behind the project and this weekend came along to Ham Library to talk to the project organizers. Guests of honour were three lovely hens kindly escorted by a local enthusiast.

ITV will soon be visiting the school to make a short film about the project. The film will be aired on ITV London News at 6pm on 23 November.

But Grey Court will not be waiting until transmission to get voting. The school will be mobilizing its chicken team as soon as the magic phone number is released in the early edition of the Daily Mirror and will be working hard all day to get as many people to call from 9am until the lines close at midnight.

The result of the head-to-head will be broadcast on ITV London News on Wednesday 24 November.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

Please vote! To help Grey Court Community Chickens win funding please vote by phone between 9am and midnight on Tuesday 23 November 2010. The voting phone number will be advertised on www.peoplesmillions.org.uk/2010-finalists/london/grey-court-community-chickens and in the Daily Mirror on the day.

Grey Court Community Chickens will feature in a short film on Tuesday 23 November on the ITV regional news between 6.00pm and 6.30pm.

Grey Court School is at Ham Street, Ham, Richmond TW10 7HN. Grey Court plans to keep free-range hens in secure enclosures on the school grounds with students setting up an egg selling enterprise. Nearby primary schools can have equipment to hatch, rear and keep their own chicks, giving them a wonderful opportunity to experience the whole animal life cycle. Primary school chickens will be able to stay at the Grey Court ‘hen hotel’ in the holidays, cared for by the part-time poultry keeper who will also teach students and local people about all aspects of chicken keeping. Local families can get involved with the opportunity to board some of these chickens in the holidays.

Grey Court opened its community allotment in July 2010 and the community chickens are the next stage in plans to set up a small school farm. Keeping chickens is an easy and exciting way to start, by encouraging students to learn about caring for animals and producing fresh, local food.

School Food Matters campaigns for fresh sustainable food in schools and for children to understand where their food comes from. To achieve SFM listens to schools, parents and children. Together they urge local authorities to improve school meals and to support food education through cooking, growing and links with local farms.

The People's Millions is a partnership between Big Lottery Fund and ITV, where the public decides which local community projects get up to £50,000 of Lottery funding. http://www.peoplesmillions.org.uk/2010-finalists/london/grey-court-community-chickens

Please ask your local MP to help

2010-11-08T14:58:00.003Z

School Food Matters is supporting two important Bills due for their second reading this Friday 12 November. The Public Sector Food Bill will ensure food standards in schools, hospitals and all public sector organisations. The Sustainable Livestock Bill will break the link between animal feed in factory farms and wildlife and rainforest destruction in South America. Please ask your local MP to support these bills. Click on the links to see how you can help.

Chicken Logo!

2010-11-02T16:42:00.004Z

The clever DT team at Grey Court School has come up with a lovely logo for their People's Millions bid. This is perfect timing as it's time to tell the world that we need votes on Tuesday 23 November! School Food Matters has put out the following press release on behalf of the school.

Eggcellent News!
Grey Court's Community Chickens are through to ITV final of People's Millions

Students at Grey Court School in Ham are to appear on ITV London News in the finals of The People’s Millions competition on Tuesday 23 November. The school’s Grey Court Community Chickens will go head-to-head with another London-based project to win enough public votes and secure funding, and Grey Court students are hoping that local people will vote on the day to make their project a winner.

Keeping chickens is becoming increasingly popular, and this exciting project will give students at Grey Court and local primary schools a wonderful outdoor learning experience, from hatching and rearing chicks, to caring for the hens, and of course eating the lovely, fresh eggs. Local people will be able to buy eggs and volunteer or train to keep chickens too. The hens will be a carefully chosen hybrid breed with a friendly nature and good egg laying ability!

Grey Court’s head teacher Maggie Bailey says, ‘Children will learn about food, learn about maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and develop so much more confidence as a result of watching their efforts succeed that their academic work will improve too, The chickens will benefit everyone, improving things for the children and building links within our community.’

Grey Court plans to keep free-range hens in secure enclosures on the school grounds with students setting up an egg selling enterprise. Nearby primary schools can have equipment to hatch, rear and keep their own chicks, giving them a wonderful opportunity to experience the whole animal life cycle. Primary school chickens will be able to stay at the Grey Court ‘hen hotel’ in the holidays, cared for by the part-time poultry keeper who will also teach students and local people about all aspects of chicken keeping. Local families can get involved with the opportunity to board some of these chickens in the holidays.

Grey Court opened its community allotment in July 2010 and the community chickens are the next stage in plans to set up a small school farm. Keeping chickens is an easy and exciting way to start, by encouraging students to learn about caring for animals and producing fresh, local food.

Grey Court Community Chickens!

2010-11-01T13:22:00.004Z

Extraordinarily excited for Grey Court School as they have been put through to the finals of People's Millions. This could see us make the first step towards our dream of a school farm at Grey Court with the introduction of the Grey Court Community Chickens! Read more here and we will be asking for your votes on Tuesday 23 November!

Cooking Ideas with Paul Merrett

2010-10-25T12:41:00.002+01:00

Great fun was had by all at East Sheen Primary on Friday when celebrity chef, Paul Merrett came along to christen the school's brand new teaching kitchen. The ribbon was cut by Zac Goldsmith and then the children got stuck in.

Paul showed the lucky eight children how to make delicious burgers and apple crumble and both recipes will feature as a Cooking Idea on the SFM website.

Huge thanks to Paul and congratulations to East Sheen Primary who now have the final piece in the food education jigsaw - a teaching kitchen for the children and their community.

Cooking Ideas goes Caribbean

2010-10-12T10:20:00.004+01:00

Those clever people at St Stephen's Junior School in Twickenham came up with a brilliant way to celebrate Black History Month. They teamed up with SFM to find a chef who could tell them a thing or two about Caribbean cooking. London Early Years Foundation was happy to send along nursery chef, David Neil who shared some cooking secrets from his Jamaican heritage.

The next Cooking Idea to feature on the SFM website will feature a bit of spice as David shares his recipe for Ackee and Salt Fish. Look out for the recipes coming soon here.

Fun with fruit in Chiswick

2010-10-12T09:59:00.002+01:00

If you're around west London this Saturday 18 October, pop along to the Abundance Fruit Day in Chiswick. Abundance London is celebrating the fruit harvest with a day of fruit pressing, jam-making and apple games. 11am-3pm at St Michael and All Angels by Turnham Green tube station. For information, click here.

Happy Roast Dinner Day!

2010-09-29T09:20:00.002+01:00

Good luck to the Food for Life Partnership schools who are attempting to set a Guinness World Record today for the most schools serving a roast dinner on the same day. Jamie Oliver said "Roast Dinner Day is a great opportunity for school cooks to really show what they can do with seasonal, local food and also for schools to invite parents in to taste the delicious food that's available to their kids".

If you have hosted a Roast Dinner Day at your school, please email your photos and we'll post them on our website.

Funding available for food growers.

2010-09-27T11:48:00.002+01:00

Do you need help with your food growing project? Capital Growth has just launched its next round of funding with grants of up to £1000. Applications are open from today until 8th November and you can apply online by clicking here. Good luck!

The Future of the School Food Trust

2010-09-27T11:30:00.003+01:00

SFM has been asked to comment on rumours and leaks about the future of the School Food Trust. Whatever you think about the School Food Trust, it has done one thing brilliantly; it has become a focus for public debate and kept school food in the press. The Trust helps us celebrate success, highlight areas that need improvement and shows us all how far we have come since the bad old days, pre-standards.

Without the Trust we fear the government will loose focus. School Food Matters supports Joan Walley's EDM 530 calling mandatory standards across all public food. To achieve this it is vital that we do all we can to keep school food at the top of the political agenda. Food campaigners have collaborated to put together a petition ahead of the fiscal review in October. You can help by signing it here http://apps.soilassociation.org/schoolmeals/

Food Inc: Free teaching resources and DVD!

2010-09-20T16:19:00.002+01:00

Did you see the excellent documentary Food Inc? If you did I'm sure you'll recognise it as wonderful teaching resource. The good folk at Film Education agree and have produced a range of educational materials for KS3 and beyond to cover Geography, Science, Citizenship, Critical Thinking and General Studies. The first 2000 schools to request these free resources will also receive a free DVD of the film. Click here for more.

Bayer/FACE Awards 2010

2010-09-15T14:55:00.002+01:00

Delighted to hear that two of SFM's favourite partners have been rewarded for their efforts to get children and young people out onto farms.

Rushall Organic Farm have hosted many a farm visit for Richmond and Kingston schools and education officer, Cliff Marriott, partnered with SFM on our competition in 2009. Rushall was the overall winner in the Bayer/FACE awards for providing excellent farming education. Ian Eggington-Metters and the School Farms Network partnered with SFM in 2010 on the Real Sausage Challenge. Ian was the winner of the Outstanding Individual award for his exceptional contribution to farming education.

Well done to both and please help them celebrate by taking your school to visit one of the many farmers on the SFM Find a Farmer page!

St Stephen's awarded Food for Life Silver mark.

2010-09-07T16:33:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to St Stephen's, Twickenham who have just been awarded Food for Life Partnership Silver mark. Staff, governors, parents, Pride Catering and, of course, the children, have worked hard to achieve this mark and the school now enjoys over 60% take-up. Deputy, Nick Brooker said "We are thrilled that the hard work has paid off and we are blessed with our wonderful cook, Caroline."

Children at the school can also look forward to a new cooking facility specially designed for primary school-sized chefs.

St Stephen's shows partnership working at its best; with a whole-school approach to food, everyone can be a winner!

School Food Matters is back from summer hols.

2010-09-01T10:58:00.003+01:00

After a lovely break to enjoy the summer hols, SFM is back and thought this a good time to take a look at an article in the Ecologist on how to campaign for better school food. SFM put together these 12 tips for parents. It might be worth remembering these when your children start back at school this week.

RHS Campaign for School Gardening - Review

2010-07-27T11:20:00.004+01:00

The RHS has published its report accessing the impact of gardening in schools. This timely piece of research reminds us why we are campaigning for food growing projects in every school.

The National Foundation for Educational Research surveyed 1300 teachers and studied ten schools. The research has revealed many benefits of school gardening in teaching and the report groups these into three key areas in which children's lives are radically improved, known as the 3 Rs: children became Ready to learn, Resilient and Responsible. Read the full report, including case studies here.

Is your school short of growing space?

2010-07-20T15:22:00.004+01:00

The good folk at St Matthew's Academy in Blackheath have sent photos of their solution to the space problem. This is the first school roof garden we have seen and is extremely impressive! Something to think about when Building Schools for the Future.

Jamie Oliver's address to TED

2010-07-20T14:45:00.004+01:00

Just caught up on Jamie Oliver's address to TED. TED is a small not for profit organisation in the US bringing together people from Technology, Entertainment and Design. Each year TED awards a prize to an exceptional individual who receives 'One Wish to Change the World'. This is a must-see for food campaigners everywhere.

Produce Sale at Waitrose

2010-07-15T16:23:00.003+01:00

Just back from our first produce sale at Kingston Waitrose. Richard Challoner School and Coombe Hill Junior School set up shop outside the store at 11am and had sold out by 2pm, making over £200 for their school gardening projects. MP Zac Goldsmith popped in to buy his supper and was impressed by the bumper crop.

The produce sale is the result of a meeting between Waitrose Managing Director Mark Price and SFM. Mr Price is hugely supportive of food growing in schools and offered a market place for those local school taking part. He said "School Food Matters is really helping children to understand the origins of their food and we are delighted to support this ambition. We wish the pupils every success with selling the produce they have grown."

We look forward to getting more schools on board next year.