Chestnuts Primary awarded prestigious award for school food culture

Congratulations to Chestnuts Primary School in being the first school in London to achieve the prestigious Food for Life Partnership Gold Award.

The Food for Life Partnership comprises four charities: the Soil Association, Health Education Trust, Garden Organic and Focus on Food Campaign.

The project is funded by a BIG lottery grant of £16.9million, until December 2011.

Schools must meet certain criteria to achieve a Bronze, Silver or Gold Food for Life Partnership Awards.

Gold schools are hubs of good food culture in their community, actively involving parents and community groups in cooking and growing activity. School meals are at least 75 per cent freshly prepared, 50 per cent local and 30 per cent organic, and more than 70 per cent of pupils are choosing to eat school meals. Every pupil learns to cook and has the opportunity to grow food, and groups of pupils are actively involved in the life of a local farm.

Chestnuts Primary has worked with the Food for Life Partnership to transform its school food culture by making lunchtimes a positive feature and enriching classroom learning with farm visits, cooking classes and growing activities. The primary school now has five chickens, which run freely around the school site, and sells free-range eggs to parents and Haringey residents.

Chestnuts school runs its own catering service with the consultancy support of Eagle Solutions to ensure that school meals meet the Gold Food for Life Partnership standards.

Reception teacher Julie Maher, who is responsible for the Food for Life Partnership programme at the school, said:

"Food has such a huge impact on the children. Learning about what they eat – or should eat – is just so important for their physical, personal and intellectual development. 

“Food is embedded in everything we do - it’s at the heart of the school. And the hands-on approach, which cooking, growing and visiting farms gives the children, is invaluable. 

“They understand about where food comes from, not because they’ve read about it, but because they’ve actually seen it first-hand. 

“The benefits definitely outweigh the time and energy you have to put into it. The result is the children! They are positive, noticeably happy, contented and keen to learn."

Libby Grundy, Director of the Food for Life Partnership said:

"I'm delighted to announce that Chestnuts Primary School has achieved the Food for Life Partnership Gold Award for creating a healthy, sustainable and enjoyable food culture within the school and its community to the benefit of everybody involved.

"The school shows what real 21st century education is all about, which is using real life experiences to teach the curriculum and providing the next generation with solutions to what threatens their future, namely climate change and the obesity crisis. 

“By empowering the young people to make informed food choices and giving them the skills to grow and cook food for themselves and their families, Chestnuts Primary leads the way for a more sustainable future."