When I tweeted about finding a chef for my children’s state school, I had no idea the profound difference it would make. Bringing a passionate chef into a school kitchen didn’t just transform the food, it transformed the children. Behaviour and attendance improved, but more than that, curiosity was sparked. Every day the dining hall became an opportunity for children to connect with new ingredients in fresh and flavourful food – all within the limits of a school budget.
Cooking for children isn’t easy; it requires energy and love. That’s why we created the charity, Chefs in Schools. We have one simple mission: to ensure that schools are not just feeding children, but educating them about food. In places like The Grove School in South Devon, we’ve seen how growing vegetables, getting kids involved in the harvest, and having chefs talk through their menus with knowledge and enthusiasm, transforms the entire school. Children smell new spices, taste different vegetables, and eating becomes an exciting, shared adventure.
This kind of daily food education is needed more than ever. With junk food promotions everywhere, it’s no wonder food-related ill health is costing the British economy almost £100 billion a year. Schools are a unique chance to reverse that trend, and teach children the joy of a varied diet. In six years, we’ve reached over 100,000 children. And thanks to Riverford’s generous support, we’ll reach many more. Their funding will help train school kitchen teams across Devon and Cornwall, empowering them to educate an additional 40,000 children about food.
But we can’t stop there. This revolution in school food needs to come from all of us. Whether you’re a parent, school leader, or chef who’s ready to join the cause, we want to hear from you. Of course, the Government has a role to play too. We’re calling for mandatory training in a range of topics for every school kitchen team. We need stronger food standards that are actually enforced.
No child should go hungry in school, and no school should settle for food that isn’t nourishing. Children are our future – feeding them well is our duty. Visit chefsinschools.org.uk and be part of the change.
Henry Dimbleby is a restaurateur, food campaigner and the bestselling author of Ravenous. His National Food Strategy sets out wide-ranging reforms needed to improve the UK food system.
Great news. I grew up without understanding food. My mum did cook traditionally but was not adventurous. But on arrival at University I realised I needed to cook for myself and subsequently through life I have enjoyed learning the joy of discovering new recipes and tastes. Go far and wide with your inspiration. The country and planet will greatly benefit.
I love this item, getting children into nutrition and developing their curiosity about what good food is all about is priceless. As a nutritional advisor, it saddens me to see how crowded the fast food outlets in my area are. I went into town a while ago and saw a small child in a high chair outside MacDonalds with his mum eating chips. This was 09.30am.
I love getting my delivery from Riverford. My grandchildren and their parents came to dinner yesterday, they absolutely loved the purple cauliflower.
Introducing children to new and exciting foods, yes their not going to love everything, but just trying new things is fantastic. They can go home and actually, in some cases educate their parents.
I was sent off to prep school at 7 years old, despite the different traumas there is one thing that I always remembered. If we only ate red meat without the fat, we would starve. The fat, dripping, was always savoured as it was the tastiest part of the meal. In those days we never had ‘organic’ food as it was already so. Pesticides were not used, animals were given a proper diet that nature intended. How cruel it is to give them an unnatural diet that makes them ill. That prep school now has it’s own farm and the students learn what is involved.