Discuss

How does animal welfare relate to the food in our school?

Consider:

• school meals
• packed lunches
• vending machines
• Food Technology lessons
• school milk (Welsh primary schools only).

What animals are affected by the food we have in schools?:

• farm animals that supply the meat, eggs and milk
• wildlife harmed by litter (in the school grounds and at refuse sites).

Conduct a survey

What sort of food is available in school?

• Is the food from a higher welfare source? How do we know this?
• Are there vegetarian options available?
• Are the eggs used by the school meals service from free-range hens?
• Is the food used in Food Technology bought with animal welfare in mind?
• Are pupils taught about different types of food production in Food Technology?
• Is the supplier of school milk accredited by any farm assurance scheme?
• What happens to any waste produced? How much is recycled?

Find out

What can we do to make a difference?

• What are farm assurance schemes? Do they all offer the same benefits to animal welfare?
• What changes are possible? Talk to the school meals provider, the school management team and the Food Technology co-ordinator.
• How much do recycling bins cost and where is the most effective place to put these?

Take action

Make our ideas happen

• Consider how we will organise this.
• Who do we need to consult before implementing our ideas?
• Do we need to seek permission for some of our ideas?
• How will we know whether our ideas have been successful?

Review

How successful were we at making a difference to the problems?

• What worked well?
• What would we do differently?
• Is there anything else we need to do?
• Do we need to repeat what we have done again, e.g. every six months?

Download a PDF information sheet of these ideas from the Information sheets tab at the top right of the page.