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134 CHAPTER 6 ■ Increasing School Meal Uptake in a Deprived Region in England

TABLE 6-1 SWOT Analysis for the Project
Factors/Variables Internal External
Positive Strengths Opportunities
• Every school has a school meals • The government has made a
service, the majority of which commitment to increase the number of
operate on site. children eating school meals.
• The steering group feels • School meals have become more
passionately about this topic and nutritious, and a lot is being done in the
has extensive experience of region to improve the dining room
working with head teachers and experience, such as new chairs and
cooks in the local area. tables and a salad bar where the
children can help themselves.
Negative Weaknesses Threats
• There is a lot of pressure on the • Home-packed lunch food can be
time of those on the steering purchased very cheaply, and parents feel
group. it caterers better for fussy eaters.
• Catering managers are under • Distrust of government and the School
great pressure; if they cannot Food Trust is due to the speed of changes
increase the school meal uptake, and a perceived lack of empathy.
more job losses for their staff • Media backlash of the “Jamie Oliver
are inevitable. effect” fuels parents feeling that they
• There is sometimes a great know best (Jamie’s School Dinners,
disconnect between national and 2005).
regional work, which leads to • The increase in food prices, labor costs,
discontentment and local areas and fuel prices leads to a fear of price
inadvertently competing with increases and lower numbers.
national projects.
• Caterers, for the most part, have
no control over the dining space
or facilities.
• Financial constraints from local
authorities exist due to the
economic downturn.

It became evident from the review that a host of interventions were being im-
plemented to boost school meal uptake and encourage sustainable healthy eating
habits among schoolchildren. At a national level, there were funding pools, healthy
schools initiatives, food nutrient standards, FSA (Food Standards Agency) targets,
national conferences, partnerships, training opportunities, and information fo-
rums—all of which combined together either to enforce or to encourage change.
These strategic interventions were then translated into ground-level initiatives,