The Beeches' Project

The Beeches decided their challenge was to increase the variety of foods their children eat so more school dinners are consumed and children are eating a balanced meal. They hoped to achieve this through daily tasters of a variety of food groups alongside familiar foods.They also set a new expectation that every school dinner received has a range of food groups on the plate. 

To achieve this they planned to conduct taste tests of different foods and meals to expose children to different taste experiences. These taste tests were daily and the children knew to expect a range of food groups on the plate for the week the taste tests ran.

The Beeches found this important as their pupils need to eat more healthily and more sustainably. The local area is above average in terms of the weight of pupils compared to the rest of Suffolk and nationally. By doing this they hoped to encourage their pupils to make healthier choices in terms of the foods they put into their body due to the wider variety of foods available and their familiarity with them.

You can hear from the students leading the project themselves:

They used their money to buy lots of different vegetables for the children to try and they rated them. The most popular vegetables have become part of the everyday offer in the school kitchens.They also bought lots of pictures of large friendly, happy fruit and vegetable characters displayed near to the serving hatch along with posters that say “Be Healthy!

Eat more fruit and veg!”

Here you can find one of the ASSET arrows talking about their project: