Chefs In Schools, our chosen charity partner for the TFP Foundation, has in the past week launched their latest campaign #GiveASausage to drive conversation around the food being served in schools.
Chefs In Schools are on a mission to change the way that we approach school food for the younger generation. Through education, investment, support and training Chefs In Schools are working hard to deliver clean, healthy, inexpensive, generation-powering, mind-opening, society-changing food in schools – and inspiring and enabling schools across the country to follow our lead.
A stellar list of chefs, food producers and campaigners, including Henry Dimbleby, Chantelle Nicholson, Amelia Freer, Thomasina Miers and Biteback 2030 ambassador Christina Adane, are asking people 'To Give A Sausage' about school food.
The #GiveASausage campaign encourages schools to sign up to a School Food Charter – which is a commitment to serving freshly made, high-quality school meals.
Chefs and people with a passion for food are being urged to consider a career in school food.
While the Government is being asked to adopt key recommendations referenced in the National Food Strategy, including:
- Putting quality first
- Investing in the workforce
- Ensuring no child goes hungry
Tom Kerridge, who co-founded Full Time Meals with the England footballer Marcus Rashford, is backing the campaign to raise awareness of the role school food can play in tackling child food poverty.
There is a growing body of evidence that good school lunches are associated with better child health, behaviour and attainment.
- Pupils in both primary and secondary schools are more "on-task" in the classroom as a result of improvements to school lunch quality and the dining environment
- Research also shows, children eating school lunches exhibit lower levels of sedentary behaviour – showing it's vital to serve a good standard of school food across the country.
- Children attending schools where school food standards are more rigorously adhered to have lower rates of obesity.
- But at least 60% of secondary schools fail to meet the legal School Food Standards
- 1 in 3 children leave school overweight or obese
- Around 1.5m (5) hungry children living in very food insecure households miss out on free school meals
The pandemic put school food in the spotlight when parents shared images of the food their children were being sent to eat at home.
This campaign wants to see people talking about the importance of good food being served in schools, and challenging for action to make sure every child can access a quality school meal.
With awareness of the importance of school food growing, organisations have been getting behind the campaign offering support free of charge – including BBH, and media companies like – JACK and City Outdoor Media.
If you give a sausage about school food, download the School Food Charter now.