Over 48000 Derbyshire children positively impacted by Food for Life

Over 48,000 children in Derbyshire positively impacted by the Food for Life programme

Derbyshire County Council’s investment in good food is having huge impact for hundreds of children across the county, giving hundreds more children access to at least one healthy and sustainable meal each day.

Targeting schools and nurseries who have a high percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals, the programme’s focused work has seen 17 Derbyshire schools transform their food culture. Additionally, over 48,000 healthy and sustainable meals are served each day by Derbyshire Catering Services, who hold a Food for Life Served Here Award which demonstrates their industry-leading commitment to cooking fresh meals using sustainable, seasonal and locally sourced ingredients.

What have Food for Life achieved in Derbyshire?

• 17 primary schools – including one SEN school – are enrolled in the Food for Life programme in Derbyshire.
• 1,698 children have been positively impacted by working through the Food for Life award criteria.
• 36 criteria evidencing a good food culture have been submitted.
• 26 one-to-one training sessions and 5 webinars have been delivered to support schools and nurseries with nutrition and embedding a good food culture in the past ten months alone.

Food for Life in action

Alfreton Park School have been enrolled with Food for Life for eight years. The school has shown unwavering commitment to embedding a positive food culture and creating a support network for other Food for Life schools in Derbyshire. Pupils understand where their food comes from and enjoy planting, watering, cooking and eating lots of homegrown produce. They have a cross-curricular approach with learning, allowing for exploration and development of skills, including the opportunity for regular work experience on farms. For their remarkable efforts, Alfreton Park have been presented with a Certificate of Special Recognition for their dedication and adaptability. This has had, and will continue to have, a profound impact on creating healthier communities in their own school, and beyond the school gates.

Katie Turner, Food for Life Lead at Alfreton Park School, says:

“Food for Life has made a real difference across school, it’s had quite a large and significant impact, particularly towards pupil wellbeing.”