Blackpool Chefs Reinvent School Dinners
Local chefs in Blackpool are "reinventing school dinners" to be more appealing and nutritious, focusing on creative fresh menus that go beyond traditional fare. The program showcases dishes prepared from scratch and presented appealingly, with emphasis on taste, variety, and balanced nutrition, already showing positive effects on student engagement with school meals.
- The initiative is part of the "School Chef Educator Programme" delivered by the national charity Chefs in Schools, making Blackpool the first council in the North West to implement it. - This 10-week training program aims to upskill school kitchen teams, enabling them to cook more meals from scratch and reduce food waste. - Around 6,000 fresh meals are now being served daily across 17 primary and secondary schools in the area. - The new menus feature dishes like superfood salads, mushroom bao buns, taco bowls, and beetroot brownies, designed to be both nutritious and appealing to students. - The program emphasizes using locally sourced ingredients, with 89% of vegetables and all dairy products coming from Lancashire-based suppliers. - The national Chefs in Schools charity, which is providing the training, is backed by prominent chefs such as Jamie Oliver, Prue Leith, and Yotam Ottolenghi. - A key goal of the initiative is to address childhood obesity rates in Blackpool, which are significantly higher than the national average. - Following the training, the newly qualified chef educators will mentor their colleagues, aiming to create lasting change throughout Blackpool's school catering services.
