School Meals Site Visits

As mentioned, representatives of the school meals working parties in Richmond and Kingston were treated to a tour of the highly successful Camden meal service.  Officers from Camden Children's Services showed eight schools across the borough, from Hampstead to Somers Town, all with varying kitchen sizes and facilities.  With such a different range of schools the only thing they had in common was excellent food (jerk chicken and rice or vegetarian pasta) and take-up of school meals above 60%.  

Camden strives to make the service even better with a rolling programme of kitchen improvements and work on sustainable procurement.  Their caterer, Cater Link has reached Food for Life Partnership Bronze Catering mark.  It was good to see information about the menu and the food sourcing clearing displayed and we also enjoyed seeing how the schools and the children value their cook as an important part of the school community.

Yesterday we looked at two schools in Richmond that have opted out of the borough contract. Sheen Mount (with Restaurants at School) and East Sheen (Pride Catering) continue to enjoy high numbers (70-80%) and a thriving meal service.  We got to taste meals at both schools (roast beef at East Sheen and an African lamb dish - Bobiti - at Sheen Mount) and all noted the quality of the vegetables - crisp, tasty and full of colour.

We will have lots to talk about at our next working party meeting this afternoon in Richmond and next week in Kingston.