Poor food culture One in four British households no longer has a table to eat around One out of every three Britons say they do not eat vegetables because they require too much effort to prepare Britain eats over half of all the crisps eaten in Europe and more ready meals than the rest of Europe put together “Bad food Britain” by Joanna Blythman

In 2005 school dinners served in the London Borough of Merton were “substandard”.

Aim To ensure that school students are offered only good quality, healthy, appealing food, prepared and cooked from fresh ingredients on site in all our schools, served in a pleasant atmosphere. Objectives 1) To ensure that Merton Council takes on the process of a robust management of change to guarantee that the schools are provided and continue to be provided with healthy fresh food. 2) A healthy balanced diet is offered at all schools - it must not be possible for students to choose unhealthy food in school. 3) Only good quality ingredients are used in school meals – organic where possible. 4) All cooking and food preparation is done on site. 5) Eating lunch is a pleasant experience for children. 6)The school lunch becomes an integral part of the education offered by the school. 7) The Council sets up an effective system for monitoring school dinners, to ensure that the standards above are met and continue to be met. 8) To agree a target date by which all of the above will be achieved with clear, specific and measurable milestones.

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