School children enjoy ‘great British grub’

ROAST beef with Yorkshire pudding and English trifle were both on the lunch menu as primary schools across Oxfordshire celebrated British Food Fortnight.
Now in its seventh year, British Food Fortnight is an established date on the school calendar and is used by hundreds of schools as an opportunity to teach children about the pleasures of eating quality, fresh, seasonal and regionally distinct food.

This year?s event was wholeheartedly supported by Food with Thought, Oxfordshire County Council?s school catering service, who developed special menus to celebrate traditional food from around Britain. Over 80 per cent of Oxfordshire?s primary schools took part in the event and they all saw their school lunch numbers increase on these days – some schools even doubled their usual lunch numbers.

Sue Edridge, Food with Thought?s Service Development Manager said, ?With a growing emphasis on food and cooking in the school curriculum, this event is the ideal opportunity to showcase the healthy, local food featured on our lunch menus. We are moving towards increasing the amount of local meat and seasonal fruit and veg that we buy for our schools, so it is really encouraging to see how much the children enjoyed their lunch on these days.?

Councillor Michael Waine, Oxfordshire County Council?s Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement said, ?It is great to see so many children enjoying the pleasures of British food. Schools have an important part to play in promoting healthy eating and events like British Food Fortnight are a great way to reinforce this message.?