What We Do

Our ability to influence change at grass-roots level makes us unique.

We share similar goals to excellent organisations such as Sustain, Food for Life Partnership and Children's Food Trust and we frequently partner with them on local campaigning and project work.

Our strength is working in depth, in one or two areas at a time, with parents, head teachers, local authority officers and others to create and implement changes to school meals and to support food education. Due to our extensive work with London schools, SFM also participates in several regional and national policy steering groups dealing with school food issues.

Parents

We can help in the following ways:

By connecting you to useful case studies and information via our website that will help you start your own campaign or raise funds for particular projects at your own school (see Parent Pages)
Keeping you informed of helpful initiatives and relevant national updates via our newsletter and Latest News
By hosting a campaign event in your area that will engage a wider parent body
By helping you target your Local Authority if you want to change your school meal service

Schools

Kick-start, expand or find funding for food education ideas at your school by using the resources on our web site or joining our Membership for Schools programme
Get your school listed as one of those who would like to join our partnership activities with selected food retailers
Register your interest to host a Cooking or Growing Ideas session or come along to a food event
Invite us to help advise on better catering standards and procurement practices if you want to handle the school meal service yourselves
Invite us to review the effectiveness of food delivery and food education within your school

Local Authorities

We can help:

Work with you on creating better catering standards for your next catering contract
Bring different groups together to form effective school meal working parties within your LA
Find examples of great school meal services to inspire you
Work in partnership with your caterer to help engage schools and parents in the work you are doing on school meals

We also speak at events and host workshops for groups like the Westminster Education Forum, The London Sustainable Schools Conference, Real Food Rants at the Real Food Festival, the London Food Link Soirees, City Shoots and school catering conferences.

School Food Matters is funded by foundations, our Membership for Schools programme, and income from project management fees.