New school menus for Dumfries and Galloway children

Councillors on the Education Committee agreed to the new menus to make school meals more appealing for secondary school pupils in schools where the uptake has been low. Councillor Sandra McDowall, said: "The consultations done with young people suggest that they don't want a sit down meal, but would rather have something deli-style and quick. Family eating patterns are different than the past and the main meal tends to be in the evening. "Young people prefer to use lunch time to meet with and talk to their friends and we need to acknowledge this. I am pleased to say that the new menus will meet the nutritional guidelines. Staff in the school meals service have worked hard to make sure that the quick option is still a healthy one. The queues should be shorter too with the introduction of a pre-order service. "The uptake of school meals in primary schools in the region continues to be good. They will also have new menus in August, extending the choice in the Take4Health option which has proved very popular. McDowall said they had to do something: "Doing nothing was clearly not an option with the pressures being faced by this service. I am confident that the changes were necessary and will prove to be a hit with young people, matching their needs more closely. The impact on staff will be minimised where possible as the managers of the service work with the unions, following the Council's policy on redeployment." Councillors also agreed to a price increase for school meals of 5p for a primary school meal and 10p on a Meal Deal in secondary schools. This is in line with market prices of premium products.