Our mission to find the greenest school menu in the UK has officially come to a close, and we’re delighted to announce The London Borough of Waltham Forest is the winner of the Green School Menu League!
The Green School Menu League was launched earlier this year by ProVeg UK and Meatless Farm, in collaboration with the UK’s youngest vegan chef, Omari McQueen. The League sought to find the UK’s greenest school menu, to inspire, educate and encourage children to eat more sustainable food, with a mission to make 15 million school meals meatless this year.
The Greenest School Menu in the UK
Serving over one million delicious plant-based school meals each year across 50 primary schools, our Green School Menu League judges were blown away by Waltham Forest’s efforts to make their menus more planet-friendly. With weekly ‘Save the Planet’ days and daily plant-based meal options (such as their creamy coconut korma, butternut squash and chickpea tagine, Jamaican patties and planet-friendly pizza), pupils even helped create the plant-based options in taster sessions with Waltham Forest Catering.
Yesterday, children from Jenny Hammond Primary School (one of the 50 Waltham Forest schools serving Waltham Forest Catering’s winning green menu) received a live cooking masterclass from McQueen, star of CBBC’s ‘What’s Cooking Omari?’, learning more about the benefits of plant-based foods by trying some of Omari’s delicious recipes.
Waltham Forest were awarded an incredible £5,000 worth of prizes, including £2,500 towards the schools’ sustainable eating programme and delicious Meatless Farm products for schools to use in their menus. ProVeg UK will also provide a plant-based workshop for Waltham Forest Catering later this year to help drive more sustainable eating.
“It’s important we have a plant-based food choice each day that everyone can eat and enjoy. The food tastes good and has a lot less harm to nature.” – Children at Jenny Hammond Primary School in Waltham Forest
Green School Menu League Leader-board
We’re also delighted to announce some of our amazing runners-up, who will also receive a case of Meatless Farm plant-based burgers, sausages, meatballs and mince to recognise their dedication to more environmentally-friendly food choices.
- London Borough of Waltham Forest
- North Yorkshire County Council
- Academy for Character & Excellence (ACE), Devon
- Thomas Deacon Academy, Peterborough
- Salford City Council (Citywide Services)
A huge congratulations to every school in our Green School Menu League leader-board! We were very impressed by each entrant’s commitment to reducing the climate impact of their menus, which featured some delicious plant-based and meat-free dishes popular with children. Each entry was evaluated on ProVeg UK’s gold standard School Plates criteria, awarding schools for taking steps towards more sustainable eating.
School Food Is Changing
With almost half (42%) of British children worried about the future and the environment and three quarters (75%) wanting to make a positive difference to the planet, Omari said:
“Children in Waltham Forest have taste tested the plant-based dishes served on their menus and are inspiring more delicious sustainable school meals. These menus are what children want to eat, and the adults! I think Save the Planet days are a great idea to have every week and it makes me happy to see that they have plant-based options on the menu every day to help make a difference to the world around us. Every school menu should be like this one.”
Christine Cornall, Waltham Forest Catering operations manager, said:
“We are so pleased to be top of the Green School Menu League. The whole catering team has worked so hard to ensure that the meals we provide to the children are more sustainable but equally nutritious. It’s been great to see how much fun the children have had with Save the Planet day. It’s a fantastic achievement for the 50 schools we serve within the borough.”
Michael Hunter, Meatless Farm UK and Ireland managing director, said:
“Congratulations to Waltham Forest Catering, this is great work and collectively they’re making a big difference through small changes to their school menu. The work of all the entrants is encouraging, for the environment and for the education young people are receiving about the food system. It shows that making that meat swap doesn’t need to be a compromise.”
Jimmy Pierson, ProVeg UK director, said:
“We’re incredibly impressed by Waltham Forest Catering, who are showing real climate leadership by serving more sustainable plant-based meals on school menus, knowing that it’s also healthier for children and can save them money. Young people care about climate change and the planet – more than any other generation – and we know from their feedback that they love the new plant-based meals served in fifty of the schools served by Waltham Forest Catering.”
Example Plant-based Menu Options from Waltham Forest
- Monday: Planet Pizza, Creamy Korma, Tomato & Vegetable Pasta Bake with choice of minted garden peas and green beans
- Tuesday – Save the Planet Day: Pea Risotto with choice of organic carrots and broccoli, Jacket Potato with choice of fillings
- Wednesday: Tomato & Basil Pasta with choice of rosemary roast potatoes, cabbage and cauliflower
- Thursday: Pea Tagine, Jamaican Patties with choice of fresh salad and mixed vegetables
- Friday: Forest Fajita with choice of baked beans and homemade bread
Would your school like to reduce their food emissions, save money, and provide healthy and delicious school dinners that children will love? Get in touch today at [email protected] or learn more about School Plates here.
All winning primary schools within the Borough of Waltham Forest:
- Ainslie Wood Infants & Juniors Primary
- Barn Croft Infants & Juniors Primary
- Belmont Park School Secondary/Special
- Chapel End Infants and Primary
- Chapel End Jnr
- Chase Lane Primary
- Chingford Junior School Primary
- Connaught Girls Secondary
- Coppermill Primary
- Dawlish Primary
- Downsell Primary
- Edinburgh Primary
- Emmanuel School Primary
- Ferry Lane Primary School
- Frederick Bremer Secondary
- George Tomlinson Primary
- Greenleaf Primary
- Gwyn Jones Primary
- Handsworth Primary
- Hawkswood School Primary
- Heathcote Secondary
- Henry Maynard Infants Primary
- Henry Maynard Juniors Primary
- Holy Family Wiseman House Secondary
- Holy Family Walthamstow House Secondary
- Jenny Hammond Primary
- Joseph Clarke Special Primary
- Leytonstone Secondary
- Newport Primary & Children Centre
- Norlington Boys Secondary
- Oak Hill Primary
- Our Lady & St George’s (Lower) Primary
- Our Lady & St George’s (Upper) Primary
- Parkside Primary
- Riverley Primary
- Roger Ascham Primary
- Selwyn Primary
- South Grove Primary
- St Ignatius (Tottenham) Primary
- St Joseph RC Infants Primary
- St Joseph RC Juniors Primary
- St Marys RC Primary
- Stoneydown Primary
- Thorpe Hall Primary
- Whitefield School Primary/Special
- Whitehall Primary
- Willow Brook Primary
- Winns Primary
- Woodford Green Primary
- Yardley Primary
A special thank you to all of our wonderful entrants, who are working so hard to reduce their carbon footprints and create more sustainable menus for children across the UK.
