News

National School Meals Week 2015 (Nov 2-6) kicked off early this year when organisers arranged for school food to be served on Mount Snowdon in Wales on July 1st to raise awareness of the high profile school food event taking place later in the year.

Hafod Eryri, the visitor centre at the summit of Snowdon, the highest point in England and Wales, played host to the NSMW team as part of LACA’s continuing work to promote the quality and value of a modern day school lunch.

Visitors to the summit were offered samples of four main courses – a rich beef casserole, chicken balti, lamb meatballs in tomato sauce and a vegetarian tikka, all served with Pasta King rice or pasta – followed by sticky toffee pudding and oaty fruit crumble, both served with custard.

The compliments kept coming, there was a unanimous verdict was that the food was excellent, and the most frequently expressed comment was ‘school meals were not like this in my day’.

The event was attended by a delegation from Gwynedd Council lead by the Chairman Mr. Dilwyn Morgan and accompanied by representatives from LACA including the Chair Carrieanne Bishop, Vice Chair Peter McGrath, SCOTY Event Organiser Richard Wainwright, LACA Wales Vice Chair Christina Powdrill, LACA Wales Treasurer Judith Gregory and 2015 SCOTY winner Kate Davies.

Gwynedd School Catering supplied the team in the kitchen, which was led by Lynda Davies from Ysgol Dolbadarn Primary and Elen M Jones from Ysgol Brynrefail Secondary – both local Snowdon area schools. Kate Davies joined them at the ovens and they were supported by senior members of the catering unit from across the county.

LACA chair Carrieanne Bishop said: “The iconic setting was perfect to demonstrate how far school meals have travelled in recent years and the event was the result of months of planning by a consortium of Gwynedd Council, Snowdon Mountain Railway, C & C Catering Equipment and the NSMW team.

“The logistics of taking the food, invited guests, media representatives, the kitchen staff and event team up 3,500 ft. of solid rock and then back down again were certainly challenging.

“The one thing that we could not plan for though was the weather, which is notoriously unpredictable at the summit even if the weather at the base is glorious.

“We need not have worried; we managed to pick the hottest July day on record, which was most apt considering our record breaking achievement of taking school meals to new heights … literally.”

Although NSMW 2015 is taking place in November there is a lot going on throughout the year for caterers to get involved with. For more visit www.nsmw.org.uk.