Food for Life gives practical advice to anyone concerned about the state of the nation's school meals...

Food for Life gives practical advice to anyone concerned about the state of the nation's school meals...

In response to the scandalously poor state of school meals, lack of food education and increase in diet-related health problems the Soil Association has developed a UK-wide Food for Life programme.

Developed with the help of Jeannette Orrey, author of The Dinner Lady, the programme puts the nutritional needs of children first. It advocates sourcing fresh ingredients from the local area with a preference for organic ingredients where possible. The amount of processed food should be kept to a minimum to ensure fresh and nutritious produce is used and that salt, sugar and harmful additives are minimised, and hydrogenated fats are excluded.

Most children these days simply don’t connect with the food they eat. Food for Life aims to help them understand the links between what they eat and the world they live in through classroom activities, farm visits, growing projects, cooking classes and healthy eating lessons.

Food for Life offers information and practical support for parents, school communities, councils and caterers who wish to improve their catering arrangements, and work towards the targets using a 'whole school' approach. Want to do something about your school’s meals? Download our Food for Life pack.

Jeanette Orrey- the dinner lady

Jeanette Orrey was catering manager at St Peter's Primary school, Nottinghamshire and the Soil Association school meals adviser. Six years ago she set out to create delicious, nutritious school dinners by ditching processed junk food and using plenty of fresh, wholesome ingredients - organic where possible. Not only did the kids grow to love their new healthy menus but her efforts also attracted the interest of Jamie Oliver, who went on to make a hard-hitting TV series on school dinners that shocked the nation.

How did you eat in your childhood?

The family ate together. I’ve always felt that my passion for good food stems from those meals and conversations round the kitchen table. Most of the ingredients were home-grown so I got used to the best from an early age.

How did you become a dinner lady?

When I got married at 18, I enrolled in cookery classes. I was so keen that I carried on. I wanted a job that would fit in with our three boys so I started as a dinner lady in 1989. That’s when my journey began. Three years later I became cook-supervisor at St Peter’s.

What was the food like in schools?

When compulsory competitive tendering hit us in 1996, the council walked into our kitchens and took out our equipment. They also reduced our hours and introduced pre-prepared food. The potatoes arrived preserved in a slimy whitening agent with a chemical smell we could not wash off. When we cooked with the frozen mince, the stench was awful. Packets full of sugar, salt and E numbers replaced our home-made puddings. They called this ‘best value’ but it really meant the cheapest. We were told it was more cost-effective to stuff kids with artificial junk. All I knew was that the children were paying the price.

How did school meals improve?

St Peter’s head, David Maddison, understood how demoralised we were. “If you think you can go it alone, Jeanette, I will support you.” My chance came in 2000 with new legislation which enabled the school to opt out. The dinner ladies team talked through every detail: our vision was to use nothing but fresh food.

How did you manage?

I had more buying power than I had dreamed possible. We had been paying 35p for ingredients per child. Now I could afford 70p per head, twice the national average and still make a profit because we didn’t need to pay a whole tier of management. I wanted to put beef back on the menu but, post-BSE, I had to know exactly where the meat came from. That’s what started me sourcing straight from the farmers. We live in a farming village so I know quite a few. I got in my car and found farmers who would supply us for 38 weeks a year. Some of the meat was from rare breeds and some organic, and when they cooked it, my ladies in the kitchen noticed the difference in quality and taste.

How did you get into organic food?

I got talking about to Charles and Jennifer Holt who run the local post office and village shop. They are both big in organic food and the more I listened, the more sense organic made. I learnt how supermarkets reject ‘outgrades’, healthy veg that is not perfect looking. I thought, why not purchase seasonal vegetables from local and organic farms? So I got back into my car and started another search.

How did the Food for Life project to improve school meals come about?

When St Peter’s was a joint Local Food Initiative winner in the Soil Association Organic Food Awards 2002, David and I went to London, my first visit – aged 46! That’s how I met Lizzie Vann again. Food campaigner and founder of Organix, the children’s food company, Lizzie had contacted me before when she first heard about St Peter’s. This time we stayed in touch, and from our shared passion to improve food in schools, and with the support of Simon Brenman from the Soil Association, Food for Life was born.