Greenside primary school demonstrates how to revolutionise school food standards with educational and sustainable approach

Greenside primary in west London showcases a thriving model where school meals blend nutrition, sustainability, and hands-on learning, ahead of England’s major food standards overhaul set for 2027.

At Greenside primary school in west London, Friday lunch is a showcase for what school food can become when it is treated as part of education rather than an afterthought. Children queue for chickpeas, spiced rice, roasted sweet potatoes, green beans and garlic-braised spinach, with the option of folding everything into a burrito at the table. Focaccia is baked on site, herbs are grown in planters the pupils can harvest, and composting is built into the routine. Staff describe it as part of a broader effort to connect food with sustainability, learning and taste, not merely calories.

That approach sits in sharp contrast to the patchy state of school meals across England. Some schools have transformed kitchens and curricula, but others still serve heavily processed food with little appeal for children. The concern is not only culinary but public health-related: the government says three-quarters of parents are worried about what their children eat at school, while one in three pupils leaves primary school overweight or obese.

Ministers are now preparing the first major rewrite of school food standards in more than a decade. The plan, which follows a consultation that closed on 12 June 2026, would tighten rules on sugar, processed food and frying, with the final version due later this year and implementation set for September 2027. Official guidance already requires schools to provide nutritious meals, with fruit, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins playing a larger role, and the new proposals go further by limiting high-sugar puddings and reducing deep-fried items. The Department for Education also wants to widen free school meal eligibility to every child in a family on universal credit, which it says could reach an extra 500,000 pupils in England.

The policy aim is not only to remove poorer choices but to build habits around better ones. Sample menus under discussion include burritos filled with beans, cottage pie topped with root vegetables and chickpea and vegetable wraps. The government argues that the changes could even help some schools manage costs by using more pulses and less meat, although campaigners warn that healthier ingredients alone will not guarantee success. Schools will need to monitor compliance carefully, and ministers have suggested a governor should take responsibility for oversight.

Food campaigners say the missing ingredient is education. Stephanie Slater of School Food Matters says the reforms could be pivotal, but only if they are backed by proper funding and consistent enforcement. Bee Wilson, who founded TastEd, argues that pupils will reject healthier meals unless they are introduced to them gradually and in low-pressure settings. That thinking has shaped initiatives such as Chefs in Schools’ “Try Something New Day”, where children are offered small tasters of unfamiliar produce, from kohlrabi to pomelo, to make new flavours feel normal rather than daunting.

Greenside’s headteacher, Ciara Finney, says the school is already close to where the government wants others to get to, and is sharing its methods with neighbouring schools. The broader lesson, she suggests, is that the real test of reform will not be policy text but what happens in the lunch queue: whether children are willing to eat what is put in front of them, and whether schools can make healthier food something they actively want.