FFK104: Why school food matters even if your child doesn't eat them

Today’s episode is about school food and it’s a topic which is very close to Joanne's heart because she worked in school food for a number of years and knows first hand how incredibly important it is.There have been a lot of changes to school food over the years, and this episode walks through the history of school dinners and some of the negative and positive changes. The government has put out some proposals in 2026 for further changes and the episode talks through how to have your say about them. It also explains why school dinners matter even if your child takes a packed lunch and how we can all help to improve them. Every child is different and many children have difficulties with eating which make accommodations necessary but this episode looks at how school dinners matter even if your child takes a packed lunch and how we can all help to improve them for our children.Links in this episode:Research examples about the nutritional balance of school meals and packed lunches:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10271449/https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/1/e029688https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news-science/news/article/4522/children-s-packed-lunches-lack-nutritional-qualityArticle on the cost of living effect on packed lunch quality: https://foodfoundation.org.uk/publication/kids-food-guarantee-update-packed-lunches-may-2024Longitudinal study on the effect of school meals on reduction in fussiness: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jhn.70063Food for Life programme: https://www.foodforlife.org.uk/Government proposals for changes: https://consult.education.gov.uk/school-food-policy-team/school-food-standards-updating-the-leg-framework/supporting_documents/school-food-standards-updating-the-legislative-framework-government-consultation-large-print-verpdfDietitian Charlotte Stirling Reed's blog explaining the proposals: https://www.srnutrition.co.uk/2026/04/new-uk-school-food-standards/ Have your say on the proposals: https://consult.education.gov.uk/school-food-policy-team/school-food-standards-updating-the-leg-framework/consultation/intro/Music "Happy Days" by Simon Folwar via Uppbeat