Bon Appétit Management Company’s Post

Please have a read and share this blog post on a dynamic and practical approach to healthy school food. I am already aware of two academy trust leaders in the North East having read the toolkit, now planning implementation which includes 17 schools, a mix of secondary and primary. How exciting!! https://lnkd.in/e2RXz94s

In Case You Missed It: Newly-Updated Food Insecurity on College Campuses Series Updated policies and programs are needed to reflect the current reality of food security issues on college campuses. Various innovative programs and initiatives are underway at many campuses to help student populations access healthy and affordable food. In addition to programming to address food security issues, policy change is needed to support food security on a larger, more formal scale. Learn more about how students and universities are tackling food insecurity on college campuses in this newly-updated series here: https://lnkd.in/gMby3b8w #CollegeCampuses #ICYMI #FoodSecurity #BackToSchool

Check out the latest blog post from the National Right to Food Community of Practice. Join us for the 2024 National Right to Food Summit in Syracuse!

“Education must not stop at the door to the canteen. A school marches on its stomach”, The Times. This powerful quote encapsulates the importance of providing nutritious meals for kids. While recent media attention has highlighted the disappointing state of school food in some areas, it’s crucial to remember better is possible and already happening in many schools across the country. As the blog post on our news page emphasises, we have a dedicated workforce feeding our future generation, who care deeply about the children they serve. By providing training, professional development, and creative freedom we can transform both the standards of food and the sense of enjoyment school chefs have in their roles. Yesterday was International School Meals Day, and we showcased excellent examples of what can be achieved in schools. With the right training, resources and quality first mindset, great school food can be achieved in any school. Supporting everyone in the school kitchen community is essential to enable them to thrive and serve nutritious tasty food we know they can achieve. School chefs can be assets in a school, fuelling children and staff and we need to celebrate their efforts. By investing in food education and empowering school chefs, we can fuel the future where every child has access to wholesome delicious meals. #SchoolFood #ISMD

Happy children eating healthy food Act now The Healthy School Meals #betterfoodtraderskenya urges Kenya and national policy makers to guarantee sustainable school meals as part of the Kenya Farm to Fork strategy . Using the hashtag #SmallPlateBigImpact, it presents school food procurement as a relatively small action that can nonetheless help achieve a large number of global Sustainable Development Goals. More concretely, it calls for healthy meals for all school children, and making territorially-informed food education standard in curricula. School meals are a low-hanging fruit to promote sustainable and healthy practices in public food procurement. We ask for: # A healthy meal for all school children! Not all children have breakfast before school. For many, food at school is the only warm meal of the day. But not all counties ,sub counties and schools serve food at school. We think that every child in every school should have access to a nutritious school meal. # No junk food in schools!Reducing unhealthy food and drinks consumption at school will be a health-promoting measure that benefits young people, and reduces public health expenditure. # Food education & cooking as a standard curriculum! Why is food education and cooking not present in school education? Only the combination of good food and food education will ensure the uptake of healthier food habits. This is also an opportunity to educate children about food culture and traditions linked to their local food systems.

My article on Gather at the University of New Hampshire was just published with The New Hampshire! Learn more about this organization's amazing food access work (and my veggie chopping skills) here: https://lnkd.in/e6t9Z5My

California has invested heavily in the school food system to support healthy and successful students, a resilient and climate-smart agricultural sector, and thriving economies. However, the state’s School Food Authorities are persistently underemployed. Recruiting and retaining labor also continues to be a barrier to serving fresh, healthy meals for many school food programs. To understand this issue further, the Chef Ann Foundation and the CALIFORNIA SCHOOL NUTRITION ASSOCIATION INC partnered with Food Insight Group to conduct a statewide survey of school nutrition services departments during the 2022–23 school year. Food service directors from 190 of California’s 1,018 School Food Authorities reported vacancy and turnover data along with their perspectives on staffing challenges and opportunities. Read the report: https://lnkd.in/eaP-sSq7

If you believe that transforming school food politics is pure utopian thinking maybe you are right. If not, I have great news for you! An open access book, "Transforming School Food Politics around the world", edited by Jennifer Gaddis and Sarah A. Robert which highlights the importance of global and local struggles to argue that the transformative potential of school food hinges on valuing the gendered labor that goes into caring for, feeding, and educating children. Enjoy! #foodpolitics #schoolmeals #book