Funding for School Kitchens is Approved | |
The Department of Children, Schools, and Families announced on 10 July 2008 a commitment to building new school kitchens in 15 local authorities that have a high proportion of schools with no cooking facilities. This announcement came after the Government published its obesity strategy in January 2008 The cross-Government obesity strategy, Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives set out the ambition to be the first major nation to reverse the rising tide of obesity and overweight in the population by ensuring that everyone is able to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. The Government’s initial focus will be on children: by 2020, we aim to reduce the proportion of overweight and obese children to 2000 levels. The Government pledged grants amounting to £46.9 million and a five point plan for school food. The 15 successful local authorities to receive funding for new school kitchens and promote a health lifestyle are:
Ministers pledged also announced an extra £6 million to promote healthy food to young people over the next three years. Secretary of State, Mr. Ed Balls, said: “We’ve turned a corner in primary schools and the steep fall last year in secondary schools has been halted. This is a testament to the hard work of catering staff on the ground...Hundreds of schools are leading the way in creating high quality food in a proper dining culture, with high-quality canteens; stay-on-site policies where possible; good lunchtime organisation, including cutting queues by staggering lunch times; effective diet and nutrition education; and actively involving young people in drawing up menus.” More information can be found online about the School Good Trust survey at www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk Publications from the Department of Health concerning obesity can be viewed online at www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics
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