The Croft Food Council held its inaugural meeting last week. Representatives from each class, from Years 1 to 6, met with Mr Bolderston and Mrs Mitchinson, Catering Manager. It was great to see how well-prepared all the children were for the meeting, arriving promptly and bringing notes from their class discussions. They all demonstrated excellent levels of responsibility in their new role. During this meeting we discussed the following initial questions:

Which foods are most popular?

Which dishes are most unpopular?

What would children like to see on the menu that we currently don’t offer?

There were a variety of responses. Unsurprisingly, the roast dinners were popular across the board, along with sausages and pizza. More controversial were dishes such as curry and macaroni cheese which split the room, and the homemade soup was given a ‘thumbs down’.

Suggestions of foods to put on the menu included garlic bread and pancakes and these will be included very soon – however the sushi may prove slightly more challenging!

We are looking forward to our next meeting where we will explore in greater depth how we best provide a healthy, nutritious meal and a dining experience that the children enjoy.

The Food Council met for the second time last week. Mr Bolderston and Mrs Mitchinson were delighted to hand out the new council badges that the representatives will wear with pride.

This week the topics that were up for discussion were:

-        Jacket Potatoes. On balance these are enjoyed by most children. Baked beans and grated cheese is evidently the most popular filling. Some children found that they were difficult to eat and so the provision of a spoon may assist with this. This will be tried on the next occasion.

-        Curry. The chicken curry was the preferred choice. The less spicy options, such as a korma, were considered the most widely enjoyed. Naan bread was mentioned and we will have this to accompany curry in the future.

Throughout the conversation it was clear, once again, that there are different tastes and preferences. However, after discussion with the council, it was felt that we should continue to have some ‘less popular’ dishes, but less frequently on the menu.

We are pleased to say that we have already implemented some suggestions from the first meeting and will continue to do so as we move forward. Next week we will introduce a greater choice of fruit and crudités following today’s comments.

We look forward to the next meeting – when pudding will be the hot topic!