Dorset-based school meals provider Local Food Links, who have been providing hot school meals in Dorset for over 10 years, are sharing their knowledge and experience to help launch hot school meals in Jersey.
Jersey state primary schools currently have no hot meals provision and Melissa Nobrega, Social Entrepreneur and Founder and Chief Executive of Caring Cooks of Jersey, hopes to replicate the unique model created by Local Food Links to enable Jersey school children to benefit in the same way as pupils on the mainland.
Melissa commented,
“Like Local Food Links, I am very focussed on childhood nutrition. Obesity rates on Jersey are high and this is something my organisation wants to change. Currently 5,500 packed lunches are eaten every day and we’d love to be able to offer a balanced and nutritious alternative.”
As a social enterprise set up for community benefit, Local Food Links has developed a model that enables small, rural schools without kitchens of their own to enjoy freshly prepared meals. It is this model that Caring Cooks of Jersey is eager to replicate.
Caroline Morgan, Chief Executive at Local Food Links said;
“ It was a pleasure to welcome Melissa to Bridport. We share a passion for feeding children well and Local Food Links have found an original and different way to give Dorset school children the excellent meals they deserve; to spread this success to Jersey would be fantastic.”