Greenfields Community School Awarded for Their Healthy Food Achivements

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1st September 2016

Greenfields Community School

GREENFIELDS COMMUNITY SCHOOL AWARDED FOR THEIR HEALTHY FOOD ACHIVEMENTS

Greenfields Community School has been awarded the prestigious Food for LifeGold award for its healthy and climate-friendly food culture. This makes it one of only eighteen schools across the country to have been awarded the Gold Award.

In its quest to achieve the Food for LifeGold award, Greenfields has been given the ultimate award that recognises schools which use practical learning experiences to reconnect young people to the food they eat, following the journey from field to plate.

Since joining Food for Life, Greenfields has shown that it is possible to transform school food culture by serving healthy, climate-friendly school meals and integrating practical food education into the school curriculum.
With the excellent support of Nottingham City Catering (which was itself awarded the prestigious Gold Award for its support for Greenfields in 2015), the school has seen a significant increase in dinner take up, proving that good school food combined with food education is a good start to get children to eat more healthily.

With Catering’s support, the school ensures that 70% of the food served at dinnertime is locally sourced and 30% is organic. Highly successful cooking, gardening and Forest Schools programmes have also been run at the school for the past few years, ensuring that the approach to outside education is meaningful and fully embedded in the school.

Terry Smith, Headteacher at Greenfields, said “We are absolutely delighted to have been awarded the Food For Life Gold Award as it recognises all of the great work that we have achieved at the school over the last seven years. We are committed to providing the children with healthy food every day and also understanding where that food has come from and how it can be cooked. Gardening and cooking with children, and following the Forest Schools programme, teaches the children skills which they can use throughout their life. We are very proud to be one of only eighteen schools nationally to have gained the Gold Award.”

James Cashmore, Director of Food for Life says:

"I'm delighted to announce that Greenfields has achieved the Food for Life Gold award for creating a healthy, sustainable and enjoyable food culture within the school and its community to the benefit of everybody involved.
"The school shows what real 21st century education is all about, which is using real life experiences to teach the curriculum and providing the next generation with solutions to what threatens their future, namely climate change and the obesity crisis. By empowering the young people to make informed food choices and giving them the skills to grow and cook food for themselves and their families, Greenfields leads the way for a more sustainable future."

Donna Waldram, School Cook, says: “I am delighted that we have won the Award. After 13 years of working in school kitchens, it has been great to see how the quality of school meals has improved. It’s been hard work and a long journey, but it has also been a very rewarding one. It’s great to be able to provide healthy, traditional home cooked food for the children.”

Independent research, summarised in a new report ‘Good food for all’reveals the success of five years of Food for Life. The evidence from three independent research studies focuses in particular on four main areas of impact: children’s health, tackling inequalities, improving education, and local enterprise and sustainability.

Greenfields will be officially given the Award at a special Food for Life Celebration and Awards Event taking place at Nottingham rent University on November 22nd 2016, celebrating the success of 40 Nottingham City Schools which have been involved in the project over the last two years.

ENDS

For enquiries about Food for Life contact / 0117 314 5180 or

Notes to editors

Food for Life has created network of over 4,500 schools across England committed to transforming their food culture. It supports them to provide fresh, well-sourced and nutritious meals and improve their overall lunchtime experience. It helps children, adults and teachers understand the importance of good nutrition and where their food comes from through practical cooking and growing activities and farm visits.

Food for Life is a Soil Association programme, bringing together the practical expertise of national partners Focus on Food, Garden Organic and the Health Education Trust.

To find out more, visit

Food for Life Awards criteria that schools meet:
Bronze schools serve seasonal school meals that are at least 75% freshly prepared by a well-trained school cook. Pupils and parents are involved in planning improvements to school menus and the dining experience via a school nutrition action group, boosting school meal take-up. Every pupil has the opportunity to visit a farm during his or her time at school, and opportunities are given for cooking and food growing activity.

Silver schools serve school meals on plates, not flight trays, and a range of locally sourced, free range and organic items are served and no fish from unsustainable sources is served. The school has a cooking club, and pupils get to cook with and eat the produce grown in the school growing area. Parents and the wider community get involved in food education via food-themed events.

Gold schools are hubs of good food culture in their community, actively involving parents and community groups in cooking and growing activity. School meals are at least 75% freshly prepared, with some items local and organic, and more than 60% of pupils are choosing to eat school meals. Every pupil learns to cook and has the opportunity to grow food, and groups of pupils are actively involved in the life of a local farm.