Transforming School Food in Devon and Cornwall

• Only 18% of UK children (5 to 15) eat 5 portions of fresh fruit and veg per day
• 4 year partnership aims to reach 40,000 children in Devon and Cornwall
• 255 school chefs to be trained in nutritional, scratch-cooked meals

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In a push to combat food-related health issues in children in Devon and Cornwall, organic veg box company Riverford, has joined forces with the charity Chefs in Schools to help train up school chefs from across the region.

This collaboration is set to transform school dinners by ensuring that over 40,000 children in the region have access to nutritious, freshly made meals every day, and is part of a wider drive to ‘vegucate’ the future, tackling food-related ill health by teaching children how to grow and enjoy fresh produce.  

This week, the first graduates of the Riverford-funded School Chef Training programme, celebrated completing their studies and getting ready to fuel the future.

These pioneering chefs have been put through their paces on a training programme specially created for school kitchen teams, which passes on tips and tricks that help children thrive in school.

Funded by a significant partnership worth £330,000 over 4 years, the initiative is part of an £800,000 legacy fund left by Riverford's founder, Guy Singh-Watson, when the company became 100% employee owned in 2023, and is dedicated to vegetable-centric projects that support communities facing food insecurity.

Laura Mumford, Director of Transformations at Chefs in Schools, said: "We are thrilled to collaborate with Riverford on this positive, solutions-focused initiative - like them, we believe children are our future and we should feed them like it. School kitchen teams have a wealth of knowledge to share, this collaboration will ensure they can use that expertise to make delicious, nutritious meals and snacks, which should be the norm in every school."

At the graduation event, the students joined Riverford’s founder, Guy Singh-Watson, for a Ready Steady Cook style event, turning a selection of vegetables into a tasty lunch. Graduates were given a surprise box of local, seasonal ingredients and given free rein to come up with a dish and a chance to unleash their inner Masterchef!

Guy Singh-Watson commented on the programme's importance: "This initiative represents a crucial step towards ensuring every child enjoys the benefits of fresh, vegetable-rich diets. It's about more than just feeding children; it's about teaching them and their families the value of good, wholesome food."

Over the coming four years, Riverford and Chefs in Schools will be working together to offer fully funded training courses to schools across the region. As well as shorter training courses, in-depth school kitchen transformations are available, which will see fresh, flavourful and colourful food served within school budgets - packet mixes and junk food will be off the menu, whereas meals made from scratch are in.

Applications for the School Chef Training programme are open now. Any school in Devon and Cornwall can apply - the training is free and offered to anyone working in a school kitchen.

Schools interested in an in-depth transformation should contact Chefs in Schools.

For more information, please visit Chefs in Schools sign-up page.