Better nursery food campaign hits facebook

22 January 2010

As Soil Association and Organix build the case for stronger government action

The Soil Association and Organix have launched a Facebook campaign to spread the word and engage mums, dads, nursery staff and concerned individuals in supporting the Better Nursery Food Now campaign, which calls on the Government put in place clear rules to ensure high quality food is served in all nurseries.

To help the Better Nursery Food Now campaigners to step up the pressure on Government, we need the help of dissatisfied parents and nursery workers and are calling on them to post their experiences via the Facebook page - whether it’s a nursery serving junk food, food with artificial additives, or poor food generally.

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/betternurseryfood
Better Nursery Food Now website, where you can sign the petition to help us take on the government: www.nurseryfood.org

This campaign follows on from the publication of ‘Georgie Porgie Pudding and Pie: Exposing the truth about nursery food’ - launched by Soil Association and Organix in October 2008. Key findings from this first detailed investigation into the state of food fed to young children attending nurseries in England and Wales:

• Foods banned or restricted in primary and secondary schools - like chips, sweets and chocolate - are still regularly served in nurseries;
• Some nurseries spend a pitiful 25p on food per child per day;
• There are no clear rules for the standard of food served in nurseries.

Pamela Brunton, Soil Association policy manager says:
“The Government has failed to take the lead on the crucial issue of nourishing the next generation which is why we are developing this campaign. We understand that there are many nurseries serving great food, but we are saddened to hear of the examples who are not. The younger the child, the more vulnerable their health is to the effects of poor quality nutrition. This is why we need mandatory standards - to ensure all nurseries are serving food which is suitable for nursery age children.”

Anna Rosier, Managing Director at Organix, says:
“We don’t think the health and nutrition of our youngest generation should be left to chance. We believe the current scenario is unacceptable and we want changes made urgently.”  

Notes:

[1] BBC Panorama will air the following programme on Monday 25 January at 20.30hrs:
One in five children starts school already overweight and, according to the latest research, children who are fat by five are likely to stay that way. Shelley Jofre investigates the food being dished up to pre-schoolers at nurseries and at home.

[2] There are over 600,000 children in England and Wales at nursery for anything up to ten hours a day. In many cases, nurseries are providing the majority of a child’s daily food during the working week.

[3] To date more than 4,300 people have signed the petition for Better Nursery Food, and the number is growing.  The petition is at: http://www.nurseryfood.org
Further information is available at http://www.nurseryfood.org/the-report.html

[4] Mandatory standards for school lunches run to pages of detail explaining exactly what the government mean by 'healthy and nutritious' but the Department for Children, Schools and Families give only a single line of mandatory regulation for nurseries, as follows:
"Each day food from each of the groups A, B, C and D shall be available as part of school lunches for registered pupils at nursery schools or nursery units in primary schools.”
This says nothing about cooking method (e.g. frying), content of meat in the meat products, or what is not permitted: for instance, levels of fat, salt or sugar; fizzy drinks, etc.
Nurseries are expected to follow the much weaker (and not mandatory) 'guidance' that has been in place since 2001.
Ref:
DCSF current policy  
From Statutory Instrument 2000 No. 1777 EDUCATION, ENGLAND The Education (Nutritional Standards for School Lunches) (England) Regulations (2000)

About the Soil Association:
The Soil Association is the UK's leading environmental charity campaigning for sustainable, organic farming and championing human health.
www.soilassociation.org

About Organix:
Organix is a pioneer of organic baby food in the UK. Organix donates a percentage of its profits from food sales to the Organix Foundation, a charity which supports parents by campaigning and challenging the food industry and Government to make high quality nutritious food widely available for all children.
www.organix.com
www.organixfoundation.org