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School Food Plan and academies

School food plan and academies

12 July 2013

The School Food Plan is encouraging schools to ban packed lunches. This government-commissioned review found that most students choose packed lunches over a school meal, even though packed lunches are usually unhealthier.

It’s obviously good news that the 'turkey twizzler days' seem to be over and that a school lunch is now seen as the healthier option. However, the proposal to ban packed lunches altogether turns the spotlight once again on academies and free schools not being bound by national school food standards. Although many academies are committed to following the national standards, with more schools converting to academy status the value of legal obligations in this area is continuously diminished.

What the School Food Plan really highlights though is the importance of all schools, maintained or otherwise, working effectively with parents to promote school meals and healthy eating. Increased demand would raise the quality of school lunches and may in turn see unhealthy packed lunches suffer a twizzler-type fate.

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