Schools are urged to form trusts

A new survey from the National Farming Union (NFU) has revealed how mothers and fathers want to see more British food on the menu.

More than three quarters of the 1,100 parents who took part in the YouGov poll agreed that food should be sourced locally where possible, while 87 per cent went as far as to call for at least half of all the ingredients served up in schools to be British.

Lessons in how food is
produced on a farm being introduced to the curriculum for pupils was also welcomed by just under 90 per cent of all those asked.

NFU deputy president Minette Batters said: “It’s great that many parents are as passionate as me about the origin of school meals and their children being able to access a nutritious meal at lunchtime.

“As a mum myself this came as no surprise.”

The results have been released to coincide with the start of National School Meals Week.

They come just under two months after the introduction of Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s £1bn “universal infant school meals programme”, giving every child between the age of five and seven in state schools in England and Wales access to a free hot lunch for the first time. The NFU poll found 88 per cent of parents took up the offer.

And in July, Prime Minister David Cameron and Environment Secretary Liz Truss unveiled plans to make schools, hospitals and other public sector organisations apply a string of tough new buying standards and source sustainable, local, fresh food where possible from 2017.

The policy, which has won backing from farmers across the country, aims to reduce the amount spent on imported produce, the public sector’s annual food and drink budget of £1.2bn, estimated to be around the £600m mark.

It is hoped today’s findings will encourage individual schools, which are in charge of their own catering budgets and selecting suppliers, to champion the cause of bringing more British ingredients into school kitchens.

Mrs Batters said: “The NFU would encourage head teachers to engage with their catering provider and supply chain to procure more British food, recognised easily by the Red Tractor logo.

“Parents clearly want to see the information of where the food comes from, and that it is British.

“This is a great opportunity for school caterers and all those involved in the supply chain to back British farming, and procure more seasonal local and British food.”

The union is concentrating efforts on its advisory role on the panel for the independent School Food Plan, which has the support of the Education Secretary, a group of organisations brought together to support head teachers to improve what is put on the canteen menu.

Teachers are also being encouraged to organise visits to working farms through organisations such as Farming and Countryside Education, so that children can understand where their food comes from.

Mrs Batters added: “Our poll shows that there’s a growing importance among parents that children learn about how and where their food is produced.

“We believe that knowing how food is grown, reared and processed is an important element of children’s food education.

“The NFU will continue to play our part in ensuring schools source more British food and helping to focus ideas to provide a strong platform to build a bright future for our children – not just for lunch but through cooking and food education.”