Formation 2005 Region served UK | Legal status Charity | |
Purpose Works with childcare providers, schools, local authorities, community organisations and industry to improve the food that children eat Location 3rd Floor, 1 East Parade Sheffield, UK Chair Adam Starkey, Linda Cregan | ||
The Children's Food Trust (formerly the School Food Trust, renamed in 2012) is a charity in the United Kingdom that promotes healthy eating for children.
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History
The Trust was created as a non-departmental public body in 2005 by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), following celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's critique of the nutritional quality of school meals in his TV documentary Jamie's School Dinners and the recommendations of the School Meals Review Panel. It had been found that standards of school food were low, with average ingredient spend per meal before 2005 at secondary schools at around 40p. Childhood obesity is a problem in the UK in specific demographic groups (see National Statistics Socio-economic Classification), with some medical professionals predicting that today's youngsters will have a lower life expectancy than their parents with problems with diabetes and heart disease.
In April 2007, the Trust also became a registered charity. In October 2011, the Trust officially ceased to be an NDPB, expanding its work both as a charity and by trading its services through a new community interest company, as the Children's Food Trust.
In November 2006, Prue Leith was named as the chair. She retired in January 2010.
Funding
The trust was initially funded by a £15 million grant from the Department for Education and Skills, and has been awarded in partnership with organisations including The Prince's Trust, Business in the Community, Magic Outcomes and the Improvement Foundation, £20 million additional funding from the Big Lottery Fund for a network of school children's cookery clubs called Let's Get Cooking.