Best School Food Initiative

Sponsored by Writtle College (visit website)

This category is open to both junior and secondary schools and there will be a separate winner in each category.

To have a good "whole school approach" the school needs to be serving standards in school food and vending that really celebrates the revolution going on in school meals at the moment. That's not all – does the school approach food values within the curriculum, perhaps offering farm visits or after school cookery clubs?

Judged by: Dr Jeremy Strong and Caroline Flanagan

Dr Jeremy Strong is Head of Higher Education at Writtle College, Essex. He has a keen interest in the cultural, social and ethical aspects of food. Jeremy has published articles in several leading journals such as Gastronomica: The Journal Of Food and Culture, on the contemporary reappearance of offal as a fashionable foodstuff and is presently editing Educated Tastes: Food, Drink, and Connoisseur Culture for the University of Nebraska Press.

Caroline Flanagan is the Head of the School of Sustainable Environments at Writtle College, with responsibility for courses in Agriculture, Conservation and Business Management. Her academic and practical background is in the primary production of foodstuffs on-farm. Building on Writtle's world-leading expertise in Agriculture, Horticulture, Post-Harvest Technology & Rural Business Development, Caroline is currently leading a team to develop courses in Sustainable Food Studies for delivery at Writtle College from September 2009.