Meeting of the Parliament 15 November 2018
I warmly congratulate the member who has just spoken, not just because of the wonderful Munros in Stirlingshire, which I have had the privilege of climbing—some of them several times—but because Stirlingshire has led the way with many good-news stories when it comes to educating our youngsters on health.
The first Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee inquiry that I took part in when I was elected was on whether we should introduce free school meals in primary 1 to 3. Aside from all the politics of that debate—and there were plenty of them; in fact, they are still going on—there was some fascinating evidence from around the country, south of the border and other countries about what interventions had helped the very youngest people to eat more healthily. One piece of evidence that stood out for me was the marked improvement when schools encouraged pupils and parents to get involved in the setting of menus, and when those menus made good use of locally sourced food. Brian Whittle referred to initiatives in Japan and Denmark, where pupils are able to help in the school kitchen.
The evidence since then has been striking in relation to rural schools, where food is very much part of the farming community that surrounds those schools. There is a lesson to be learned from the recent story in The Press and Journal about the school cook at Broadford primary school, who has been nominated for two awards for her outstanding work in promoting healthy eating at the school and inspiring pupils to further educate themselves on nutrition.
The evidence that we took at the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee has stuck with me throughout my time as an elected member, especially when I consider school meals that are less than satisfactory. It is sometimes argued that it is more expensive to prepare healthy meals because there is less scope for mass purchasing, and therefore less scope for economies of scale when it comes to preparing and transporting food. I wholly refute that view, although I accept that many school kitchens are not always suitable for the kind of meal preparation that we need in modern schools. It is important for us all to think about that when it comes to procurement.