Greens slam school dinners (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Greens slam school dinners

10:24am Friday 30th September 2005 in News By Chris Wickham

RICHMOND schools have come under fire for not offering pupils organic food.

This comes in a week where Education Secretary Ruth Kelly announced that all food high in fat, salt or sugar will be banned from vending machines and school meals within a year.

The Green Party has set a target that at least 30 per cent of all the food served in school meals should be organic after Richmond upon Thames Council revealed that it had no idea what proportion of food currently offered to the borough's pupils is organic, unprocessed or locally-sourced.

But Cllr Geoffrey Samuel, Richmond Council's cabinet member for schools, has said it is down to school governors to choose what food they serve to students.

Jenny Jones, Green Party member of the London Assembly, said: "I am appalled that no organic food is currently offered to Richmond pupils. I urge the council to ensure that the provision of wholesome food is addressed for the new school year and that the borough adopts all of the targets recommended by the Soil Association that 30 per cent of all food in school meals is organic, 50 per cent is sourced from the local region and three-quarters is made from unprocessed ingredients.

"The council needs to act urgently to provide safe and healthy food for children. If MPs in Parliament insist on organic food for themselves, then it should be offered to our children too."

Cllr Samuel said: "School meals are exclusively a matter for school governing bodies and we have every confidence in the parents, teachers, community and LEA representatives who make up these governing bodies. I do not believe the man in the town hall knows best on these matters.

"I am not going to issue a directive on this as I have great confidence in the governing bodies. I trust them to make the decision that is right for the school. The Green Party make a good point and I would be happy if they brought this to the attention of the governing bodies."