The local food and nutrition programme – Food Smart – partners with ProVeg UK to deliver a bespoke offer for all Secondary Schools across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
From September 2021, free consultancy will be available for all Secondary Schools to encourage a whole school, positive approach towards healthy eating, food and nutrition.
Food Smart, which is funded by Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council as part of the Healthy Schools Service, provides a variety of elements that can be accessed separately or combined according to need to facilitate the requirements of the new Health Education Curriculum. These include:
- Assemblies – virtual and in-school
- Self-led lesson plans and resources
- Student and parent workshops
- Teacher training opportunities
- Links to local businesses, initiatives and other food related networks
- A progressive accreditation scheme
Further to this, the partnership with ProVeg UK and its School Plates programme will provide schools with the option of receiving free consultancy to work with caterers to help improve the variety and quality of food provision. The School Plates offer specifically includes:
- Menu review and advice to increase the uptake of existing vegetarian options
- New meal suggestions and new recipes (all nutritionally balanced and delicious)
- Help to introduce meat-free days, as well as educational planet-themed days
- In-person plant-based cooking and training for groups of caterers and development chefs
- Help to analyse the environmental impact of menu changes, including climate emissions savings
A webinar is being delivered to provide more information on Thursday 23rd September 16:00 – 17:00 with presentations by ProVeg UK, PECT ( which is co-ordinating the local Food Smart programme) and the Thomas Deacon Education Trust which has already engaged with some of the Food Smart initiatives as well as the School Plates programme.
An opportunity for questions and answers will also be included.
In addition to these food and nutrition based initiatives, a dedicated resource page has been developed to showcase the wider partnership work that is happening across the county to encourage secondary schools to present their students with the opportunities to make healthier choices and to lead active and resilient lives now and in the future. PE, School Sport and Physical Activity is a powerful tool to achieve this. The Active Lives Survey subsequently provides a really useful means to self-assess current provision as well as an invaluable insight into both the engagement levels and attitudes and behaviours of the students to sport and physical activity. Schools can opt to complete the survey at any time.
All enquiries can initially be directed to [email protected]