Published on:
25
February 2013
Pupils from Alva Primary School enjoyed a visit to Clackmannanshire Council's Catering Service, Class Cuisine, in preparation for Scottish School Meals Week, which takes place from 4th to 8th March.
The event aims to raise awareness of school meals and at the same time promote healthy eating.
The pupils and teachers from Alva Primary were welcomed to Class Cuisine by Catering Manager Diane Mackenzie and her staff, and were given a tour of the building and saw at first hand how the meals were made prior to being sent out to their school kitchens.
Education Convenor, Councillor Ellen Forson, said: "Scottish School Meals Week should prove to be a tremendous success with school children throughout Clackmannanshire. They will have a fantastic array of menus to choose from, from award winning cooks, and at the same time won't have to look further than their own school dining rooms for a nutritious well-balanced healthy meal.
"I look forward to going along and visiting one of our schools during the week and meet some of the children and trying the meals for myself."
On the first three days of Scottish School Meals Week, Monday 4th March until Wednesday, 6th March, one of the two lunchtime choices available each day will have been created by one of the three finalists in Scottish School Cook of the Year 2012 competition.
On the Monday, Clackmannanshire's school children will have the chance to enjoy country meatloaf with barbeque gravy, followed by summer fruit tartlet with Greek yoghurt, the third placed award winning dishes of Tracey Walker of Stirling Council.
On the Tuesday, the spotlight falls on the main course of chicken dhansak, followed by crannachan with raspberries, vanilla and honey, the dishes, the second placed menu of Carol Coupland of North Ayrshire Council.
And then on the Wednesday, the menu of Scottish School Cook of the Year, Norrie Scott, of Tayside Contracts, will be available. It consists of a main course of Moroccan lamb and mint sausage, followed by toffee apple and blueberry crumble and crème fraiche.
On each of the three days there will also be alternative dishes available as part of Class Cuisine's daily school meal schedule. Fish, chips and beans on Monday, macaroni, crusty bread and peas on Tuesday and margherita pizza, potato wedges and sweetcorn on Wednesday.
On Thursday, 7th March, the focus switches to the theme of "Scotland What a Waste", which aims to make school children more aware of the amount of food that is wasted on an annual basis in Scotland.
Councillor Forson added: "Food waste represents nearly a third of household waste. We throw away 566,000 tonnes of food and drink from our homes every year, which costs the average household £430 a year - that's around £35 a month.
"If we stop wasting food the benefit to the planet would be the equivalent of taking one in five cars off the road. That's the strong message we want to get across to our school children in Clackmannanshire, and Scottish School Meals Week is the ideal opportunity to do this."
Steak pie, mashed potatoes and turnip will be on the menu for the Thursday with an alternative of a sandwich platter served with mixed salad.
On the Friday, the event comes to an end with an international day, with dishes available native to six different countries.
Every primary school in Clackmannanshire is guaranteed throughout the week to have a pupil winning a prize in a special word search competition, the search all based on the menus and food waste.
A number of pupils will win a Kindle Fire, while at least one winner from every school will win a £15 sports voucher.