School meals look to local suppliers

The School Food Support Service has appointed three suppliers in the county to provide the ingredients for the meals on the new school meals menu for this year, which has just been unveiled. It will go into use from March 23 at schools across the county, sourcing fruit and vegetables from Country Fresh in Syston and Redbridge in Leicester, and beef from Parkers Farms, also in Leicester. The meat will be distributed by Brakes, their frozen food contractor. Among the dishes on offer will be Leicestershire roast beef, cottage pie, roast ham with pineapple and parsley sauce, Quorn tikka masala, lamb bolognese and Leicestershire braised beef steak with onion gravy. The menu will put an emphasis on seasonal produce, too, offering the vegetables available and at their best rather than a fixed range of side dishes, and a changing 'local garden salad.' The new menus comply with the government's nutrient based standards for school lunches that came into force in September 2008. Ivan Ould, lead member for Children and Young People's Service, said: "It's important to demonstrate our commitment to finding the best ingredients locally and keeping the number of miles that food travels as low as possible. "We also want to encourage pupils to try new things – we all have a tendency to stick with what we know. We'll put one popular vegetable on the menu, but the rest will change according to what's in season…so if leeks are in season, for example, the kids will be invited to try them." Leicestershire County Council has had responsibility for the provision of school meals since May 2008. With the near-unanimous support of schools, the authority, led by its School Food Support Service, resumed control and overhauled the lunch service.