Elmscot Group cooks celebrated on Food for Life Roast Dinner Day

On Wednesday 2nd November, Elmscot Group of nurseries will be taking part in the seventh annual Food for Life Roast Dinner Day. This day of celebration, held during National School Meals Week, recognises the dedicated, hard-working and talented nursery cooks who serve our children with nutritious, freshly prepared and locally sourced nursery meals.

All nurseries within the group – Elmscot, Woodlands, Hale and Broussa Day Nurseries – will be inviting parents and special guests to join them for a roast dinner with pupils and staff, with each nursery incorporating organically grown school vegetables and locally sourced ingredients in the menu. Being part of this project is a valuable addition to the learning opportunities the Elmscot Group are already providing- through growing their own fruit and vegetables, raising chickens and even creating a recipe book for parents.

“This is great opportunity to involve the children with the preparation of their own meals. We were recently visited by our local greengrocer who provides all of our fresh fruit and vegetables, and it was great to be able to share with them what we make with their fabulous produce. The children are looking forward to helping our chef prepare the vegetables that will be served to the nursery children and team on the day.” – Ami Mahon, Deputy Manager, Elmscot Day Nursery.

Jeanette Orrey, co-founder of Food for Life and founder of Roast Dinner Day said:

“Roast Dinner Day is a great opportunity for schools and caterers to showcase the amazing work they do in schools every single day to feed and educate our children. Year on year, more and more schools are getting involved, and for the first time, we have a Swedish school taking part, who will be serving a roast dinner to 1,000 pupils! We’re delighted to be a part of National School Meals Week, and shine a spotlight on school food”.

 

For further information contact:

Ami Mahon, Elmscot Group, c/o Broussa Day Nursery & Nursery School, 27 Warwick Road, Hale, Cheshire, WA15 9NP, Tel: 0161 980 0003 Email: [email protected]

The Soil Association Food for Life Schools Programme is an awards framework originally developed as a partnership between nationally recognised experts in the fields of growing, cooking, farming, healthy eating, nutrition and whole school decision making. These partners are: Soil Association, Garden Organic, Health Education Trust and Royal Society for Public Health. The awards programme can be bought by individual schools or as part of a wider Public Health commission, as has been the case in Warwickshire over the last 12 months. The commissioned project has enabled Food for Life to offer schools a range of site-specific training sessions, 1-1 support, access to knowledge and resources and ongoing support to school caterers to achieve the Soil Association Catering Mark Award.

The Soil Association Food for Life initiative aims to make Britain healthier through food by making good food the easy choice for everyone, whoever and wherever they are.  Through their work with schools, nurseries, hospitals and care homes they aim to support the provision of nutritious, well-sourced meals as well as practical knowledge and skills. They are a leading voice in the campaign for positive change in all areas of food and health. To find out more visit www.foodforlife.org.uk

The Food for Life Catering Mark provides an independent endorsement that food providers are taking steps to improve the food they serve, using fresh ingredients which are free from undesirable additives and trans-fats, are better for animal welfare, and comply with national nutrition standards. Find out more: http://www.sacert.org/catering

National Roast Dinner Day is now in its seventh year and celebrates the school cooks and caterers who daily serve up nutritious lunches, using seasonal, locally sourced and organic produce. Schools are encouraged to invite parents, staff and special guests to join them for a roast dinner, incorporating organically grown

LACA’s (Lead Association for Catering in Education)  National School Meals Week is running from 31st October – 4th November 2016. For more information visit http://www.thegreatschoollunch.co.uk/ #NSMW16

For further information about Food for Life, please contact:

Lorna Picton – Communications and Marketing Officer

Soil Association Food for Life

T: 0117 987 4587 E: [email protected]

Twitter: @SAFoodforLife