NEWS

14 March 2012 by School Food Matters

Zac tables EDM to launch Save Our School Food Standards campaign

School Food Matters has entered into some collaborative campaigning to save school food standards, with Jamie Oliver at the helm.

Parliamentary push has come from Zac Goldsmith MP in the form of EDM 2854 , calling for the mandatory school food standards to apply to all schools without exemption.  Zac Goldsmith said  "We have seen some progress on school food, and it is crucial we don't regress. For many children, school is the one sure place where a quality meal can be guaranteed.  We not only need to guard existing standards, we need to radically improve them."

Together School Food Matters, Jamie Oliver Foundation, Children's Food Campaign, LACA and Food for Life Partnership have launched the Save our School Food Standards campaign and will be asking parents, teachers, health professionals and anyone else who cares about children's health and well-being to lobby their MPs to sign the EDM.

School Food Matters founder, Stephanie Wood said "I wrote to Zac Goldsmith back in November after seeing Jamie Oliver on BBC Breakfast . Parents needed somewhere to go to express their concerns about the erosion of school food standards and a collaborative campaign seemed like the way to go.  We're delighted that Zac has tabled this EDM as it gives the campaign a focus.  Parents can now lobby their MPs to sign at www.sosfood.org.uk."

ENDS

Twitter #sosfood
For more information about Save our School Food Standards campaign go to
www.sosfood.org.uk

For more information about SFM go to www.schoolfoodmatters.com

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Jamie’s Statement on Zac Goldsmith’s School Food EDM and SOS call to Save Our School Food Standards

Jamie Oliver, with the backing of The Children’s Food Campaign, LACA, The Food for Life Partnership and School Food Matters, has welcomed the Early Day Motion proposed by Zac Goldsmith MP today which draws attention to the increasing concerns over the removal of nutritional standards for school food from new academies and free schools.

Jamie explains: “Back in 2005, a great many teachers, parents, kids and the media fought together to ensure that school food in the UK improved from an all-time low to the situation we have today where nutritional standards ensure that kids can have a good, balanced meal for 190 days of the year.  For some kids, that’s their only freshly-made, nutritious hot meal of the day and so it’s extremely important that we safeguard the standards.

“Over the last year, I’ve become increasingly worried that the nutritional standards we fought so hard to introduce, are not being applied to the new academies which the coalition government favours.  As a result, head-teachers under financial pressures may feel that quality school food can take a back-seat and the bad old days of reconstituted meat shapes and chips every day could easily make a comeback.

“It’s in everyone’s interests to fight again to ensure that the nutritional standards are re-implemented across all schools and I welcome Mr Goldsmith’s EDM and hope that it gets the support of MPs so that it can be debated as soon as possible.

“We need to send a strong message and to do that we need as many MPs as possible from across all parties to sign this motion. Our friends at the Children’s Food Campaign have created a simple and quick online action which finds and then tells your MP that school food matters to you. So please get involved. Take action now at www.sosfood.org.uk”

Stephanie Wood
www.schoolfoodmatters.com
Charity Number 1134094

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