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Question from: County Councillor Gareth Ratcliffe Subject: School meal quality PDF 89 KB
Question:
Are you able to provide reassurance that the council will maintain a high standard of food quality for young people as the cost of products are raising considerably? Concerns have been raised that the quality is being cut back over the last year. We have some hard-working catering staff but they can only work with the products that are sourced for them from the council and if the quality is cut to save money then the quality for the children is also affected. I have heard that the base budget for meals that is set per meal has not increased in several years and with the increasing costs for core products there has to be an impact.
Can the Portfolio Holder please provide a breakdown of the cost per meal and how the council is looking to ensure that all school meals have nutritional value and quality?
Minutes: Response by the Portfolio Holder:
Our Catering Service reviews school meal menus twice per year and samples (including taste test in schools), many supplier ingredients and products before they go onto our menus. All meat produce is Red Tractor (British) certified and fish is MSC (Marine Stewardship Certified). As part of the joint agreement the Welsh Government have between Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru for the introduction of Free School Meals to all primary school pupils starting this September. It is also seeking to establish more local, sustainable food producers to be able to supply to our school food supply chains. Many local authorities are already working with local organisations and Cooperative groups to establish this local provision, including us here in Powys. We are working with the “North Powys Good Food Futures” partnership group to establish the feasibility to supply our north Powys schools with locally produced produce that is sustainable and affordable. Which will lead to growth in the local economy and reduced food miles. But also better provenance, that will undoubtedly increase school meal uptake.
Our Catering Service is aware of the increases in food produce and the suppliers keep them informed of any likely increases. The school catering staff also provide feedback from the schools, particularly if there are products that are on new menus that pupils are not particularly keen on. Our school meal menus are nutritionally analysed by our central catering team as they have to meet the nutritional standards and approved by the WLGA prior to use.
I have attached the food costs for our current menu. (This is purely the food cost element of each daily menu and does not include staff preparation/overheads).
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