Everyone can be part of the food for life partnership

Together, we are revolutionising school meals, reconnecting young people with where their food comes from and inspiring to grow and cook food.

Check out our new film on YouTube (8 mins). You'll hear from headteachers, farmers, gardeners, caterers and parents across the country about how they've benefitted by getting involved.

To enrol your school click here
For more information please see the website.

Back to school with a Gold award for good food culture

St John’s Primary School near Bath is the first school in the country to achieve the prestigious Food for Life Partnership Gold Award.

Since joining the Soil Association-led Food for Life Partnership, St John’s Primary School has shown that it is possible to transform school food culture by changing school meals and making practical food education an integral part of the school day.

Every pupil learns to cook and has the opportunity to grow food in school. Everyone also gets to experience the life on the local farm, Farrington's Farm. St John's is now a hub of good food culture in Midsomer Norton and parents and community groups are invited along to cooking and gardening clubs. The school also hosts farmers markets. Working with the local authority caterer, Bath and North East Somerset, school meals at St John's are now at least 75% freshly prepared, 50% local and 30% organic, and some of the ingredients come from the school's link farm, Farrington's.

Read our case study on St John’s Primary School, Midsomer Norton on our website.
 

E Coli outbreak

We are very concerned to hear about the E Coli outbreak at Godstone Farm in Surrey and hope that the children involved make a full recovery. We want to assure all the schools we work with that Godstone is not one of our link farms. However, it does highlight the need for regular and rigorous hand-washing and boot-cleaning during and after farm visits, especially after contact with animals. Advice from the Health and Safety Executive about avoiding ill-health on farm visits can be found online.

There are millions of visits to farms every year and luckily these outbreaks are very rare, so the Food for Life Partnership Farm Links team hope that this incident will not deter families and schools from visiting farms. A recent study found that "farm visits are really important in dispelling children’s deep ignorance about where the food they eat comes from and helping teachers deliver a wide spectrum of the national curriculum.”

If you have any questions or concerns, do get in touch with our Farm Links team on 0117 9142440

Garden Organic produced FFLP Growing Manual

The Food for Life Partnership Food Growing Manual is a Big Lottery funded resource which is being developed by Garden Organic to support all schools involved in the Partnership to transform their food culture. It is free to schools that have enrolled on the Food for Life Partnership Mark. The manual supports the food growing aspect of the Food for Life Partnership Mark and suggests approaches for community inclusion whilst inspiring and educating people to grow their own food using organic methods.
The manual is being produced in two phases. Phase 1 is now complete and is being distributed to schools. It consists of:

- Guidance Notes booklet which gives an overview of the Food for Life Partnership project and the Mark Awards
- Bronze Award booklet which covers a whole range of information to support the school in achieving the Bronze Mark Award
- DVD of activities linked to the topics in the Bronze booklet
- 6 posters, Seeds and young plants; Food growing year; Harvesting & storing; Edible plant parts; Making compost; Pests & diseases
- An index style box which includes 100 A5 food growing instruction cards.

We are now working on Phase 2 which will be ready March 2010. This second phase will consist of a Silver and Gold booklet, a DVD of activities and 6 further posters.

Education Business Awards

Why not enter your school for the School Catering Award in the Education Business Awards?

They are looking for schools “that can demonstrate a commitment to healthy eating and value for money through the provision of a first class catering service available to all students.” You could mention your work with the Food for Life Partnership and how you are also tackling animal welfare and environmental issues through the school meal catering.

For more information see their website.

Grants to start school gardens - deadline 15 October

The Blue Peter Mission Nutrition appeal is offering 140 grants to schools and educational settings wanting to start - or significantly increase access to - a school garden. There is a simple application form online at www.farmgarden.org.uk/mission-nutrition

Deadline 15 October 2009

Get blogging...

Schools, we love to hear about all your fantastic food experiences, so please blog away. Who knows, you might even be chosen as Blog of the Week and get a little prize… check out our website to see this week's Blog of the Week
Email Liz if you have forgotten your password, LButterfield@soilassociation.org

Press-kits

Any schools, farmers or caterers interested in promoting the great Food for Life Partnership work you do, email Rikke to get a ‘press-kit’ with press release templates and guidance notes.
RBruntse-Dahl@soilassociation.org

Sick of Pesticides Campaign - Your help needed

Pesticides can be particularly harmful to children. Research is increasingly linking pesticide exposure to health effects such as nerve damage, cancer and reproductive disorders.  But right now, we do not know whether children are being exposed to pesticides in schools, school food or school grounds. The Health and Environment Alliance are currently running a survey to find out what pesticides may be in schools and they need your help.
You can fill in the survey online 
For more information, a leaflet and booklet are available which explain why this issue is important and what the pesticides and their health hazards are. You can download these from: www.pesticidescancer.eu
or email Vicki@env-health.org for hard copies.

The Sick of Pesticides Campaign aims to raise awareness of the health impacts of pesticides and provide a voice to concerned citizens.

News story: Cocktail of chemicals found in school's free fruit (25 September 2009)

National School Meals Week

NSMW is the biggest national healthy eating awareness week about school meals in Britain. This year it takes place from 9th to 13th of November. Why not use the opportunity to shout about your school's great catering team, the delicious, healthy and climate-friendly school meals the cook and all the great work you do as a Food for Life Partnership school?
Check LACA's website for more information and to vote for your favourite school meal.

Save the honeybee

The Soil Association is calling on the Government to protect our honeybees and ban neonicotinoid pesticides.  Lend your voice by signing their online petition. 15,000 people have so far, sign-up now to help make a difference yourself...
Find out why neonicotinoids are bad for bees
Sign the petition and lend your voice to the campaign
Watch the short animation