School Food Trust

The School Food Trust is a UK non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), giving independent support and advice to schools and parents to improve the standard of school meals. The trust was created in 2005 following celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's critique of the nutritional quality of school meals in his TV documentary "Jamie's School Dinners".

The trust is governed by a board appointed by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, and managed on a day-to-day basis by an executive team. A criticism is that 8 of the 14 board members are either part of the food and catering industry, or close to it. [http://www.tfx.org.uk/page189.html] Dame Suzi Leather was appointed as the first Chair of the trust, but resigned a year later when appointed as Chair of the Charity Commission. Baroness Maggie Jones was appointed interim Chair in August 2006 [http://www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/news_item.asp?newsCatId=1&NewsId=39] .

In November 2006, Prue Leith was named as the chair [http://education.guardian.co.uk/schoolmeals/story/0,,1943553,00.html] [http://www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/news_item.asp?NewsId=44] .

The trust was initially funded by a £15 million grant from the Department for Education and Skills, and has been awarded in partnership with organisations including The Prince's Trust, Business in the Community, Magic Outcomes and the Improvement Foundation, £20 million additional funding from the Big Lottery Fund for a network of school children's cookery clubs called Let's Get Cooking. [http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2007/02/23/311846/school-food-trust-looks-to-national-lottery-for-cookery-club.htm] [http://www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/news_item.asp?NewsId=86]

The aim of Let’s Get Cooking is to establish a national network of clubs to give children and non-cooking parents of all ages the skills and confidence to cook nutritious and tasty meals from scratch.

External links

* [http://www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/ School Food Trust website]
* [http://www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/UploadDocs/Contents/Documents/SFT%20Strategic%20Plan%2029032006.pdf School Food Trust, Strategic Plan 2006-2009]
* [http://www.letsgetcooking.org.uk Let's Get Cooking Website]
* [http://www.dfes.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2005_0044 Healthy food in schools - transforming school meals] , DfES launch press release, 30 March 2005
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1441940,00.html Blair acts on Jamie's plan for schools] , The Observer, 20 March 2005
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1548364,00.html More money for school dinners as Jamie tastes campaign success] , The Times, 31 March 2005
* [http://www.newstatesman.com/200602200019 Grease is the word] , Katharine Quarmby, New Statesman, 20 February 2006
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4765110.stm School snack ban plans proposed] , BBC, 2 March 2006
* [http://www.schoolsandhealth.org/sites/ffe Food for Education]