Seal of approval for school dinners

Julie Skelton, Keally George and Shirley Murphy from the council’s Facilities Management team with a bronze award for providing healthy and nutritious school meals in the borough

Rochdale Borough Council has received a bronze award for the varied and healthy menus it prepares for primary schools.

Every year the authority’s Facilities Management service is inspected by the Soil Association to check the team satisfy the requirements for a Food for Life catering mark.

It is the second year running that the council has received the award for menus at 58 schools, which:

• Provide at least 75 per cent freshly prepared dishes 
• Only use meat that is farm assured as a welfare minimum 
• Only use free range eggs 
• Do not contain any undesirable additives or hydrogenated fats 
• Are seasonal and use in season produce 
• Cater for all special dietary needs in the schools population 

The award is also given for providing continuous professional development to catering staff.

Councillor Jacqui Beswick, Cabinet Member for Place and Regulation, said: “We are delighted to receive this award for the second year running. It highlights how serious we are about providing the borough’s children with healthy and nutritious choices at lunchtime.

“Our carefully planned school meals ensure that our children cut down on eating too much food with lots of fat, salt and sugar in them which can lead to serious health problems, both now and later in their lives.

“We hope that this award will show parents that the nutritional quality of our meals is very high and an economical way of providing a healthy option for their children.”