British Food Fortnight is proven to help Councils increase the number of pupils eating school meals.

“The number of children eating school meals in Shropshire Primary Schools increased by 20% as a result of the British Food Fortnight menu we ran.”
Bill Campbell, Operations Manager, Shropshire School Meal Service.

Oxfordshire Council doubled the number of children eating school meals with their British Food Fortnight menu.

Organise a British Food Fortnight healthy eating competition for all the schools in your borough!

In the build-up to the Fortnight all schools in the UK are given information on incorporating cookery and food-related topics into their curriculum teaching and they are advised to seek help from local retailers and chefs to achieve this.  Many retailers and caterers organise activities for schools every year.  Use the links below for advice on how they can help.

Taking part in the national food promotion is proven to increase sales for 34%.  Some local stores have increased sales by £2,000 as a result of taking part!

Give local food shops, butchers and greengrocers in your Borough special point-of-sale material to draw attention to their stores during the national food promotion and to establish a point of difference between their establishments and out of town stores.

For advice on increasing sales click here .

Bradford Council held a British Food Fortnight dinner at Bradford City Hall.  The dinner raised £3000 for charity and was attended by Jeanette Orrey, one of the UK's most well-known, widely respected and inspirational experts on school food policy.

Food and sport go hand in hand and in the build-up to 2012, we are encouraging Councils to put British food at the heart of their Olympic celebrations.  Here are some fun ideas for Councils to start planning now:

For advice on how to source British produce follow the links from the relevant British Food and Buying British pages from the drop down menu at the top of this page.  See in particular the advice for those involved in Public Procurement.

Kent County Council organises Kentish Food Week during the national food promotion in a bid to showcase locally grown produce and traditional Kentish recipes. At least 350 schools in Kent ran a special British Food Fortnight menu prepared by the Council’s caterers.  The menu included dishes such as Appledore Chicken Pie, Huffkin Rolls and Gypsy Tart. Schools were also invited to participate in a competition to decorate the service areas with pictures of fruit and vegetables. “There was a significant increase in school meal uptake during the week. This event is widely supported by Head teachers, teaching staff, pupils and parents alike. I would love to see the whole of Kent adopting this. So you’d get pubs that would do Kentish food, also hospitals and hotels. It would be wonderful if that happened.” Mark Sleep, Client Services Manager for Kent County Council. For further information on how Kent Council takes part please see this link.