More pupils get taste for school dinners (From Witney Gazette)

More pupils get taste for school dinners

6:32am Saturday 12th January 2008 in Headlines

A THIRD of children in Oxfordshire's schools are opting for school dinners instead of packed lunches - a rise of six per cent.

Oxfordshire County Council's school meals provider Food With Thought served up 30,550 more school dinners between September and November 2007 than in the same period the previous year.

It said 499,608 meals were served in first three months of the 2006 autumn term compared with 530,158 in the first three months of the 2007 autumn term.

Colin Garnham-Edge, general manager of Food With Thought, said: "The increase is an indicator that times are changing, starting with our meals and menus, which now contain more locally-sourced produce and meat than before, and most of which are cooked on-site each day, using fresh ingredients.

"But we are also seeing a change in attitudes to school lunches, with many schools and parents contacting us with positive feedback and becoming more involved with the menus and meal service.

"The increase is very encouraging."