Feast for Manchester schools

The School FEAST (Food Excellence And Skills Training) network was introduced in London on 7 February 2008. Sixteen training providers have been chosen from across the country to provide ongoing training and qualifications to school cooks and kitchen assistants to ensure children are always offered healthy and nutritious meals. Manchester City Council's catering service Manchester Fayre and its Learning Development team have together, with their partners, won the contract to deliver and manage the School FEAST project in the North West of England. FEAST will ensure caterers and cooks meet the criteria for the Government's new nutrient standards by providing a comprehensive package of training and qualifications tailored specifically around their needs. It will be introduced into primary schools in September 2008 and into secondary schools in September 2009. Councillor Bernard Priest, Executive Member for Finance and Human Resources, whose responsibilities include school meals said: "Being chosen to deliver FEAST is testament to the high standard catering service offered in our schools. We are fully committed to providing nutritious and tasty meals for pupils and are delighted to have been successful in gaining Government support to help develop the service." Councillor Sue Murphy, Executive Member for Employment and Skills at Manchester City Council said: "Being appointed as an accredited centre for FEAST is recognition of the work that we have done with our partners in the past. With them we have won awards for our work in training and developing our catering staff, which has enhanced their already high levels of skills to produce high quality and nutritional school meals. We are proud to be working to contribute to the health of the young people of Manchester and hope to be able to share our expertise for the benefit of the young in greater Manchester and beyond." The School FEAST project will be the sole provider of VRQ and NVQ training to school cooks and kitchen assistants with courses ranging from nutrition and cookery to food presentation. For more Manchester City Council information visit www.manchester.gov.uk