West Northamptonshire Council makes commitment to healthy food for school children and the wider community with new Food for Life contract

The three-year programme will work with schools and communities with areas of high deprivation and obesity to give children better access to healthy food and an understanding of where our food comes from. In West Northamptonshire, the programme will be a key part of the Council's joined up approach to decreasing obesity through building relationships between schools, early years settings, caterers and local food systems.

Cllr Matt Golby, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health at WNC said: “It is great to see this programme launch to encourage a lasting and sustainable change for our children and young people when it comes to picking a healthier food option. We know there are many health and wellbeing benefits to eating well, and helping to create greater access and understanding of better food choices is a really positive way of doing this.”

Food for Life has been working with schools across the country for the past 20 years, instilling good food culture through their pioneering awards scheme and high-level accreditation standards. Recent work in Walsall has seen 16,058 pupils benefit from having the Food for Life programme in their school.

The programme will work with 35 Schools and 10 Early Years settings to establish a healthy food culture for pupils, staff and families. Food for Life will also work with the wider community to embed nutritional knowledge, cooking confidence and support for behavioural change in relation to food.

Cllr Fiona Baker, Cabinet Member for Children, Families, Education and Skills at WNC said: “This is an important programme that will provide education, nutrition advice and access to better food choices to pupils in 45 of our schools and early years setting across West Northamptonshire. We are committed to delivering better outcomes and working with our education settings to support early prevention is key in achieving this.”

School caterers will work towards a Food for Life Served Here (FFLSH) Award. FFLSH is a sustainable catering certification that ensures food is at least 75% freshly prepared, uses seasonal ingredients where possible and the School Food Standards are met as a minimum.

Local Programme Manager Joanne Plater who will be working with targeted schools across the district to embed the programme, says:

“I’m very excited to be support settings in West Northamptonshire to develop their uniquely positive school food culture using the framework of the Food for Life Schools and Early Years Awards.

“Connecting children with where their food comes from and increasing their knowledge and experience of healthy foods is thing of joy. Food for Life will support targeted settings to make these opportunities accessible to all through a variety of free and individual support. To find out more, please contact me on [email protected]"