News

Taking place from 10-14th November, NSMW is about showcasing the importance of healthy, hot school lunches and aims to ensure all young people have access to the nutritious meals they need for optimum health, wellbeing and educational performance.

This year, LACA has launched the School Lunch Skills for Life programme as part of NSMW, where each day of the week will focus on a different benefit of enjoying a school lunch:

• Monday – Cooking together
• Tuesday – Nutrition
• Wednesday – Community
• Thursday – Environmental
• Friday – Social

Olive Dining promoted a number of initiatives – both new and existing – across the 150 primary and secondary schools it works with, to coincide with each of the above. It ran interactive cooking classes and engagement activities, encouraging pupils to try new recipes and enjoy creating dishes together.

During the week, an Olive Dining nutritionist provided mindful eating tips, helping students learn what makes a healthy plate and giving them the tools they need to make positive food choices every day.

Stephanie Spratt, co-founder and chief executive of Olive Dining, said: “We believe every student should have access to a hot, nutritious lunch, so when it comes to school meals, we offer more than just food on a plate. We provide balanced, locally sourced meals that not only allow children to grow strong and healthy, but also give them the energy to learn and thrive in the classroom.

“NSMW is a chance for us to reflect on what we’re doing as an industry to make this a reality. Are we doing enough to ensure every child has access to the food they need, and are we getting adequate support to make this happen? Are we taking action to ensure the school catering industry is operating in a sustainable way that protects the planet?”

This news follows Olive Dining’s recent support of Love British Food’s annual campaign, British Food Fortnight, where it worked with a number of schools to teach students about the food grown and produced in the local community.