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Healthy Eating is on the Menu at Boston College

Boston College are delighted to have been awarded full School FEAST [Food Excellence and Skills Training] membership, one of only eight new centres in England. The Boston School FEAST Centre, established by the School Food Trust; a government body commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills in 2006 and chaired by the restaurateur, broadcaster and cookery writer Prue Leith, will train scores of kitchen staff for hundreds of schools in our region to ensure that young people eat a healthy and nutritional lunch every day.

In 2006, the government introduce the food – based standards aimed at improving the quality of school meals, these include nutrient standards and require schools, local authorities or catering providers to ensure that the average school lunchtime meal meets specific standards for energy and contains minimum levels of 14 nutrients.

The training will enable school staff to meet these requirements, to develop existing skills and discover new ones. It will help build professional confidence and also provides opportunities to meet people from a similar field and share their experiences.

Boston College’s Catering students and staff have been providing over 300 school meals for 8 local Primary schools since 2006 including schools from Gosberton, Bicker, Swineshead, Wyberton, Old Leake , Boston and Wrangle, so the College understands the pressures and problems that the school food workforce face on a daily basis. This has helped Boston College to develop a training programme that is tailored to meet the various needs and qualifications required by school staff. National Vocational Qualifications [NVQ], Vocationally Related Qualifications [VRQ], technical certificates and bespoke courses are available at levels 1 – 3 and can be delivered within the workplace and at the new FEAST Centre.

Jane Edwards Curriculum Leader for Hospitality and Catering at Boston College said,

“As a FEAST Centre we will be able to expand our high quality, timely, convenient and accessible training for school cooks and catering staff throughout Lincolnshire. Schools meals, always in the news these days, now have to adhere to the Government’s new nutrition standards and Boston College is offering a range of training options to help the school workforce develop the skills, confidence and inspiration to do this difficult job even better, ensuring that Lincolnshire children and young people enjoy tasty, healthy and nutritious meals.”

The FEAST programmes offer a comprehensive package of training and qualifications that are suitable for assistant cooks, kitchen assistants, cook supervisors, meal supervisors, area managers and school management team members as well as local private school meal providers. It is also open to anyone that is interested in improving the quality of tomorrow’s school meal.

Prue Leith, Chair of The School Food Trust said,

“School cooks are the unsung heroes – they are responsible for feeding millions of children every day and play a key role in the health and wellbeing of the future generation of adults. So I am delighted that Boston College is leading the way in nurturing the school cooks of the future.”

Page Last Updated : 07/05/2010 15:16:55