 | | Picking our own potatoes |
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The food at Westfield is as important to us as the standard of care the children receive - and OFSTED has said our nursery is so healthy, it's officially outstanding!.
While Jamie Oliver caused a stir with his TV programme Jamie’s School Dinners, our three, four and five year olds could be excused for wondering what all the fuss is about.
We introduced healthy meals at our small nursery school in North Yorkshire six years ago and we now have up to 35 children tucking in to fresh parsnips, cauliflowers and leeks, pasta with basil, mushroom and tarragon risotto every day for lunch and tea.
Ofsted has ranked us as among the very best in the country for our healthy attitude at Westfield. We are rated "Outstanding" for helping children to be healthy.
We have never cooked turkey twizzlers or deep-fried chips, but over the years we have become more adventurous with our healthy alternatives: our latest menus include courgette & tomato gratin and mushroom & tarragon risotto with potato rosti.
We have found that good fresh food is only slightly more expensive to produce, while the benefits are enormous. Just like Jamie Oliver, we discovered years ago that homemade food produces calm children, happy and healthy mealtimes, and delicious smells that waft from the kitchen! The food is so delicious that all the staff eat with the children, and there's a standing invitation for parents to join us.
Almost every member of staff has been trained in basic food hygiene, and we were once told by the environmental health inspector that we had the cleanest kitchen towels he had ever tested!
The lunch and tea menus, which change each week, are a delicious mix of home baking and children's favourites, using the best ingredients we can find.
Our fresh vegetables are supplied every week by Dooley's, a local greengrocer, and the meat is delivered by Hartley's butchers of Tholthorpe.
To make meal times as pleasant as possible for the children we bought all the plates, bowls, cups and cutlery from Ikea's children's range.
We cook for several children with food allergies - and although children are welcome to bring a packed lunch , not surprisingly, there aren't many who do!
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