The Healthy School Cafe is a commercial school food service that has a core ethos of promoting healthy diet. Started in 2009 by RedBranch, the initiative is now run by The School Food Company, with RedBranch providing support as an educational partner.
The café promotes healthy lifestyle choices, and is supported by a range of RedBranch educational messages. It is a service that listens to and responds to clients whilst simultaneously having a positive influence on youth health behaviour.
The objectives of the café are to:
- Provide healthy food in school and positively Influence attitudes to healthy food
- Promote consumption of healthy foods
- Promote consumption of healthy beverages (water, fruit juice, milk)
The outcomes of the café are children who carry healthy habits through into adulthood, including improved consumption rates of fruit, reduced consumption of “junk” foods and beverages, and reduced rates of obesity.
The school cafe actively promotes healthy food by means of:
- Promoting and selling healthy products that are appealing to teenagers – examples trialled by RedBranch include watermelon slices, fruit salad pots, fresh fruit yoghurt & granola pots and fruit kebabs
- Pricing strategies whereby the healthiest options are the cheapest
- Poster information points, giving accessible facts on healthy eating and other lifestyle issues
- Self-imposed restrictions on product line—a no “junk” food policy, and use of only high quality ingredients
- Educated service personnel who are able to actively promote healthy diet
- Providing an educational service—RedBranch educational materials are provided in participating schools
If you are interested in healthy food for your school, see our school food consultancy page.
