Chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall dishes out school food awards

The award ceremony took place at the organic farm and eco conference centre Sheepdrove on the 2 December 2009. It's no mean feat for a school to set up an organic school garden, run growing and cooking clubs, organise regular visits to local farms, serve freshly prepared school dinners with local, seasonal and organic ingredients -- and include parents and the local community in it all. But that is exactly what 1,500 Food for Life Partnership schools are doing across the country. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall said: "I'm delighted that the Food for Life Partnership is taking my 'Chicken Out!' campaign for higher welfare chicken into the world of school meals with such success, proving that young people really do care about where their food comes from. "What makes this project so inspiring is the way that young people in more than a thousand schools are now learning about real food in a hands-on way, growing and cooking it themselves and even rearing their own chickens! I would urge the Government to do more to encourage all schools to follow their lead." All Silver and Gold Food for Life Partnership schools only serve free range or organic chicken and Hugh spent this week with progressive Food for Life caterers discussing how to make the aims of Hugh's 'Chicken Out!' campaign happen in school meal catering and give thousands more young people the chance to eat high welfare chicken for lunch. Silver schools were celebrated, who now serve school meals on plates, not flight trays, and have a range of locally sourced and organic items on the menu. All chicken, bacon and sausages served are Freedom Food certified or free range and no fish from unsustainable sources is served. The Silver schools have cooking clubs, and pupils get to cook with and eat the produce grown in the school growing area. Parents and the wider community get involved in food education via food-themed events. In addition, the Gold schools are hubs of good food culture in their community, actively involving parents and community groups in cooking and growing activities. Their school meals are at least 75% freshly prepared, 50% local and 30% organic, and more than 70% of pupils are choosing to eat school meals. Every pupil in a Food for Life Partnership Gold school learns to cook, has the opportunity to grow food, and groups of pupils are actively involved in the life of a local farm.