Sustainable food procurement initiative - Icknield High School
Case Study: Icknield High School
Region: Luton, Bedfordshire
Organisation: Secondary School
Description: David Lucas was trained as a chef at the Savoy Hotel in London. For the past four years he has been the chef at Icknield High School, Luton.
On first starting at the school he decided not to use the old recipes that the school had, but to use his trained expertise to rewrite the recipe book and to provide quality meals for the children.
On the menu at Icknield it is not unusual to see mussels or pheasant. Dishes on the menu include beouf bourguignon, chicken teriyaki and seafood paella. He also prepares tasty salads, relishes, coleslaws and beetroot. He caters for the vegetarian and prepares food so that it is interesting, tasty and nutritious. He manages to do all of this with the money he is allocated and does not go over budget. David and his staff cook for between 900-1,000 pupils and staff on a daily basis, which has risen from 500 when he started. He adapts his menus to suit children's nationalities.
The school has 1,350 pupils and 40 per cent of the local community are Asian. They do not serve Halal food, but instead they offer a good variety of food which is suitable for Muslims.
Benefits
- Since his arrival at the school the high turn over of kitchen staff has stopped and now he has a list of people who want to work for him. This continuity has enabled steady improvements to be made.
- The staff (both teaching and non-teaching) enjoy the meals that are now available and they sit with the children to eat them. The moral of the staff and pupils is high.
- The number of children tucking into a hot dinner has increased significantly since Mr Lucas revolutionised their lunchtime menu. This has increased profits for the school.
- Mr Lucas manages to buy his produce at a local level. He uses a good butcher, fish monger, farm shop and a competitive dry goods supplier, adding to the local economy.
- He uses seasonal produce to complement many of his dishes. Ensuring that the pupils are getting the freshest most nutritious food available.
- The school also has a breakfast club in operation. Children who wouldn't normally have breakfast for one reason or another now have the opportunity to a healthy start to the day.
Lessons learned
- He runs the school kitchen as he would a top restaurant. On his arrival the kitchen staff were reluctant to change their ways of working, but he persuaded them to give his way a go and if didn't work, or they didn't like it, they would revert back to their normal working practice. The changes he made were phased in and then they have never looked back. He said: "School dinners needed dragging into the 21st Century. But to do that you need the co-operation of your staff - and I have got brilliant staff."
- The pupils said they enjoyed the variety of meals on offer, if they are unsure if they will like a certain food they can try a small taster, without paying. They then know that the next time it's on the menu whether they like it, or not.
- Mr Lucas helps cut costs to serve the cordon bleu menus by looking at what ingredients are on offer at local markets. He said: "If I hear that pheasant is going cheap we will buy them and put them on the plates at 50p a breast. It's common sense really and knowing classical cuisine." The price of a two-course gourmet meal at the secondary school is a standard school-dinner price - a bargain £1.20.
Future developments
A continued investment in the training of the catering staff. Mr Lucas is assisted by 2 full time staff and 10 part time, all of whom are learning new skills on the job. He is always looking of ways to improve things in both, meals and in the dining area.
Further information
Headmaster: Mr Keith Ford, Icknield High School, Riddy Lane, Luton,
LU3 2AH.
Tel. 01582 576561. Fax. 01582 561533.
Website: http://icknieldhs.org
Page published: 21 May 2004