Leicestershire council discusses popularity of school meals

Last year, the number of UK children eating school lunches across the country fell – but Leicestershire has seen a vast improvement, with a 4% increase in pupils enjoying their school lunches. The number of children eating healthy meals in the county continues to rise. Key speakers voicing their opinion at the conference were Ivan Ould, cabinet member for children and young people, Wendy Philp, manager of the School Food Support Service (SFSS), and Ed Balls, minister for children, schools and families. Mr Ould said: "By providing fresh food, new menus, and a range of initiatives, we have managed to encourage more young people to eat healthier options. We can now spread this good practice to other local authorities across the country." Mrs Philp continued: "There has been a great deal of hard work in Leicestershire to encourage more children to eat school meals. We have recently introduced mobile food trailers that pupils can visit, as an alternative to sitting down in a canteen, in an effort to stop them from leaving the school site to go to the chip shop. "For some time, we've been asking for pupils help with menu development and say what they would like to eat – something that Ofsted now wants other councils to do." And as well as carrying out presentations on healthy eating during school assemblies, the SFSS has helped fund nine brand new kitchens throughout the county, allowing schools to have freshly cooked meals on the premises – rather than having them driven in from other sites. The Healthy Eating in Schools Conference is an annual event that is attended by school food providers from across the UK.