The St. Albans team is collaborating with Hertfordshire county council’s school meals provider for 12 days of competitions aimed at encouraging children towards a healthy lifestyle.
The Saracens are ideal ambassadors to encourage young people to link healthy eating with activity and keeping fit.
Every day there will be a set of different posters highlighting either food or sporting facts displayed in school dining rooms with a question for children to answer.

However, there are several myths regarding the new rules…

Schools cannot serve cheese

Wrong – schools can serve cheese, at any time of the school day. It is good practice to use low fat varieties of cheese.

Schools cannot use salt in cooking

Wrong – salt is permitted in the cooking process but should not be provided at lunch tables or at service counters. In general, nutrition experts recommend reducing the amount of salt used in cooking and use herbs or spices to flavour dishes.

Schools cannot serve cakes and biscuits

Wrong – cakes and biscuits can be served at lunchtimes as long as they contain no confectionery. Children should only be encouraged to eat these as part of a meal – not instead of a main course.

Schools cannot put butter on jacket potatoes

Wrong – butter is permitted on jacket potatoes. This does not count as a starchy food cooked in fat or oil as the butter is added after the cooking process. It is good practice to restrict the amount of butter pupils can add to their food.

Schools cannot serve chips

Wrong – deep-fried foods, such as chips, can be served up to twice a week.

Schools cannot provide jam or honey to spread on bread or toast

Wrong – jam and honey are not restricted by the standards. However, foods and preserves that are high in sugar should be limited.

Schools cannot dilute fruit juice with water

Wrong – fruit juice can be diluted with water provided that the fruit juice component in the final drink is at least 50% by volume.

Schools cannot serve bacon at breakfast

Wrong – bacon is not restricted by the standards. Experts recommend that bacon is grilled rather than fried, and the types of foods served at breakfast is varied throughout the week.

1. Only one in five school children are currently eligible to receive a free school meal
2. Twenty per cent of children entitled to free school meals do not take them
3. One million children living in poverty do not get a free school meal
4.  Ten per cent of children are deterred from taking school meals by cost
5.  School meals are the only hot meal received by one in four children
6.  Many children who have free school meals still have to sit apart from their friends

The Latest Key Findings as reported by the School Food Trust

• Pupils have one hour or more for lunch in 68% of primary and 24% of secondary schools. Pupils had lunch periods of 30 minutes or less in 16% of primary and 13% of secondary schools.
• 13% of primary and 49% of secondary head teachers considered their dining space to be ‘not very’ or ‘not at all’ adequate.
• 27% of primary and 10% of secondary schools reported having no dedicated indoor dining areas. The school hall was used for dining in most of these schools.
• More than 60% of schools gave pupils the option to eat in designated outdoor dining areas
• 32% of head teachers reported that the take up of school meals had increased between autumn 2007 and autumn 2008. 38% reported that it had remained the same, and 23% that it had decreased.
• The main reasons identified as contributing to an increase in take up were that the food had improved (47%) and that meals had been promoted (21%). Reasons for a fall in take up were that the food had changed (67%) and that prices had increased (25%).
• 76% of primary and 70% of secondary head teachers thought that pupils’ attitudes towards eating healthier meals was better in Spring 2008 than in Spring 2007. Only 1% of primary and 4% of secondary head teachers thought that attitudes were worse.

Theme this year is “Get involved” This is a web based feature For more information
For Primary Schools visit www.iloveschoolmeals.co.uk
A site for secondary schools is to be launched www.nsmw.org.uk

1. working practices in the kitchen

2. use of equipment and waste/recycling.

1. The pilot will focus on:
2. Reduction in obesity
3. Changing eating habits at home
4. Behaviour and academic performance
5. Improvement to school standards
6. Improvement to health and well being