Maple Hayes Hall Dyslexia School offers a ‘unique approach’ by providing schoolchildren with nutritious and locally-sourced food as well as teaching them about the farm-to-fork journey. Venison is high in protein, iron and vitamin B as well as being low in fat.
A herd of 42 deer are kept on the 200-acre school grounds. The venison is culled on site under a Food Standards Agency Licence, before being processed nearby minimising food miles. On the days when venison is on the menu, dishes include pies, roasts and bolognese.
Dr Daryl Brown, co-principal of Maple Hayes Hall Dyslexia School, said: "It's a very sustainable way for us to feed pupils. When we heard Jeremy Clarkson call for schools and hospitals to introduce venison, we felt that we should offer ourselves as proof that this isn’t a fad, but can help to reduce the environmental damage caused by the estimated two million wild deer roaming the British countryside.”