"Get remembering" during National School Meals Week

Date published: 11 November 2011

Youngsters will get a taste of wartime rationing as they remember the fallen during National School Meals Week (7-11 Nov).

School meals will be a bit different for primary pupils on Friday 11 November, when the theme is “Get remembering”, linked to Remembrance Day.

On Friday, pupils will learn about school meals during wartime, the types of food served and how food was rationed. They will also observe two minutes silence at 11am when they will remember those who have fought in wars past and present.

At St Andrew’s Primary School in Ramsbottom, 81-year-old Joyce Elliott, a member of the Lancashire Fusiliers outreach team, will have lunch with pupils and talk to them about rationing and growing up during wartime. Joyce will also be taking the opportunity to help raise money for the Fusilier Museum. To set the scene, the school dining rooms will have a wartime theme and catering staff will be encouraged to dress up in 1940s costume.

The menu will boast meat and vegetable steamed pudding or cheese and onion pie with mashed potatoes, cabbage and carrots followed by windfall fruit crumble and custard or jelly and oaty biscuit.

Councillor Jane Lewis, executive member for leisure, tourism and culture, said: “On Friday, pupils across Bury will step back in time and get a flavour of what it was like for youngsters growing up during the Second World War. And importantly, on Remembrance Day, they will also spend a little time remembering those who have fought in wars past and present.”

Sonia Smith, head of school catering, said: “School meals today have changed so much since they were first introduced in the 1940s. We currently serve around 14,000 healthy school meals a day at both primary and secondary schools throughout Bury. Menus are nutritionally balanced and children now get to choose from a wide variety of different dishes.”

National School Meals Week (NSMW) is run by the Local Authority Caterers Association (LACA). It is the biggest national healthy eating awareness week about school meals in Britain. A school lunch helps young people recharge their batteries to be at their best for afternoon lessons.

For more information about “Get Remembering” and National School Meals Week visit www.iloveschoolmeals.co.uk