Waltham Forest, London, UK: Area commended for ‘greenest' school menus
Schools located in Waltham Forest in the UK have been recognised as having the ‘greenest' school menus in Britain, following a transformation of the area's menu to serve one million vegan meals across 50 of its primary schools in a year. The schools have weekly ‘Save the Planet' days and plant-based options are served every day, with options including creamy coconut korma, Jamaican patties and cheezy pizza. The students were involved in curating the vegan options via tasting sessions with Waltham Forest Catering.
Waltham Forest's win was uncovered by The Green School Menu League, an initiative that was launched in early 2022 by Meatless Farm (meatlessfarm. com/for-kids-by-kids), in partnership with Omari McQueen (the UK's youngest professional vegan chef) and non-profit ProVeg UK's School Plates programme. The collaboration wanted to find the UK's greenest school menu to inspire, educate and encourage children to eat more sustainable food, with an end-goal of making 15 million school meals meatless by the end of the year.
Pupils from Jenny Hammond Primary School, one of the 50 Waltham Forest schools serving Waltham Forest Catering's winning green menu, received a live cooking masterclass from McQueen, whilst Waltham Forest Catering received a ProVeg UK plant-based workshop. The young chef also awarded £5,000 investment towards the school's sustainable eating programme.