Food and sustainability – Adam Greenwood

ADAM GREENWOOD

Food and sustainability

In a world where many schools are streamlining their kitchens through employing external companies, we decided to flip the system. Last year we employed Nicolas Laridan as our Executive Chef, overseeing our upper and lower school kitchens. He has previously worked as Head Chef at Le Gavroche, Michel Roux Jr.’s double Michelin Star restaurant, in Mayfair. Apart from the huge level of flair and excitement that he has brought to the lunchroom, we have had a huge push on the sustainability of our food at every level.

At Pointers we have had an organic food policy in place for the best part of a decade, sourcing the best fresh organic produce for our meals. When Chef Laridan arrived, we had multiple suppliers ranging from wholesale to Ocado. Apart from the complexity of ordering from multiple agencies, we had fish coming from North America and organic peppers from Peru. The decision was made to become a more environmentally sustainable school whilst remaining true to our organic food policy. Our meat supplier was switched to the Rhug Estate in Wales, a field-to-plate farm where all meat is organic and sustainably reared. For example, the farm uses green energy and packaging is fully recyclable. At the same time we put fish on the menu twice a week, sourcing fresh line caught wild fish from Celtic Fish & Games based in St Ives. This is a familyowned business that works with local fishermen in Cornwall. The fish is all caught within 24 hours of being on the table in our London school!

Like many schools we also have a meat-free Monday along with our twice weekly servings of meat and fish. Our vegetables are supplied by Leonard Magee, a greengrocer operating out of New Spitalfields market. They source the best fruit and vegetables from across the Home Counties. Every table also has a selection of crudites, access to the fruit & salad bar and a selection of bread from Paul Rhodes bakery, a supplier less than a mile away from the school in Greenwich. We focus on seasonal produce with the school menu changing throughout the year. We also offer a vegan alternative every day.

This week you can find on our menu:

• Pollock fillet with braised savoy cabbage, broccoli, black & white rice and roasted pears • Sole fillets with roasted heritage beetroot risotto, sunflower seeds and parsley ricotta • Lemon & garlic roast chicken with onion & rosemary potatoes and chantenay carrots • Traditional Hungarian Goulash with red onions, butter beans and brown rice • Courgette and wild mushroom pasta bake

On the whole we have made our food operation far more sustainable through using green suppliers and sourcing all of our produce from the UK. Nothing travels further than 300 miles before being on the children’s plates. The food is exciting and delicious, exposing children at the school to a wide range of food, encouraging good eating habits for life and providing a diet that is conducive to productive learning in the afternoon!

Hemdean House School (LW)

Adam Greenwood is Headmaster of the Pointer school in south London and a governor at Townley Grammar School. Adam was named the Young Leader of the Year for 2021 at the British Ex-Forces in Business Awards. His thoughts can be followed on Twitter @PointersHM.