The Local Authority Caterers Association (LACA) has announced that NSMW will take place from Monday 7th to Friday 11th November. The key theme of the week is to promote healthy and nutritious school meals to parents, pupils, teachers and governors across England and Wales.
Each day has a different theme, they are: Monday Get Eating as part of Britain’s Biggest School Lunch; Tuesday is Get Travelling where pupils can learn about food from different countries; on Wednesday it is Get Creative when pupils and students are encouraged to be creative with food; Thursday is Get 5-a-Day and we will be explaining the importance of fruit and vegetables as part of a balanced diet, Friday is Get Remembering when young people turn their minds to all those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. It is also a reminder about how school meals for all were first introduced to combat malnutrition in war time.
Two sponsors have been confirmed to enhance the week’s activities. Dolmio will support Get Eating and Britain’s Biggest School Lunch. All Dolmio sauce recipes have been recently developed to be compliant with the strict school guidelines. They are now all RD salt compliant for 2012, are free from artificial colours, flavourings and preservatives, the range is also gluten free with no GM ingredients or MSG, and no nuts or peanuts are used as ingredients. All sauces are also HFA approved for Halal diets.
Tuesday’s Get Travelling Day is being sponsored by Bernard Matthews Foodservice. Their Big Green Tick range of British turkey products ticks all the right boxes for schools. The range has been developed in conjunction with LEA’s and schools to help caterers create menus that meet food and nutrient based standards, whilst appealing to children.
Sandra Russell, Chairman of LACA, said “A new twist for 2011 is the NSMW Tour. A themed event will take place in a different location each day starting in London on the Monday and ending in the North West on the Friday. I urge more schools to take part as the resources are available to download free from the website from July onwards. Schools and caterers will be able to register to take part in the week from Wednesday 6th July when the website will be launched at the annual LACA Conference. In the last two years we have seen over 16,000 schools take part and this makes it the biggest healthy eating event in the country and our research shows that sales can be increased by over 6%”.
Sarah Gray, National Account Manager from Dolmio said, “NSMW is a very important event in the school calendar for several reasons. It encourages more children to have a healthy meal at lunch time and this helps young people regenerate their batteries for afternoon lessons. Pasta is a great energy food and is very popular when served with one of our delicious Dolmio sauces. Last year these sauces were reformulated so they comply with all the nutritional standards set out by the Government”.
Chris Walkden, National Account Manager, Bernard Matthews Foodservice, added, “Our Big Green Tick Turkey Thigh Mince, Diced Turkey Thigh and ready to eat Turkey Breast Chunks are very popular with schools as they are low in saturated fat and extremely versatile. They can provide a protein base for dishes from around the world, from curries to chilli. This is why we are delighted to take part in the Get Travelling Day. We will be providing a range of recipe ideas, developed by our home economist to meet the food and nutrient based standards, that caterers can use on the day and then incorporate into their Autumn menus. Bernard Matthews Foodservice totally supports the aim of LACA’s NSMW and I am sure this year will be bigger and better than ever”.