Twitter being trialled to let parents know what's on the school dinner menu

School lunches are increasingly a focal point in the ongoing battle against childhood obesity. Following survey results suggesting that one of parents' top concerns is that they don't typically know what's on the menu on any given day, the School Fund Trust has partnered with Somerset County Services to publish its school menu each day via Twitter.

Beginning this autumn, parents who subscribe to the trial service by following @SCSSchoolmeals will receive a tweet each morning showing what’s on the school menu. Any parent, grandparent or care-giver can follow, whether their child currently eats school meals or not. The feed will also be used to update parents on special theme days, taster sessions and how to apply for free school meals. The trial is part of a raft of new initiatives the School Fund Trust is piloting to increase use of school meals; results will be made available online.

Chris Wainwright of the School Food Trust explains: “With this trial, parents will be able to ask what children thought about the food on offer, and which lunch option they chose. It gives parents the information they need to start discussions about healthy food.”

Another service getting at the same thing in a different way is the My School Lunch site.

Think we should have something like this in Haringey? Then drop a line to Councillor Lorna Reith who has responsibility Children and Young People in Haringey.