120 Years Of English School Food

Four young people stand outdoors holding decorated serving trays painted with bold slogans — including "Take Action" and "Greatness Wasn't Raised on Grease" — smiling at the camera. They wear casual, eclectic clothes at a creative, activist-style gathering in a park.

We’re looking back at 120 years of school food in England…

Go on the school food journey, and watch how English school canteens have evolved through policies, stories, losses, and glories:

1906

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Where it started

| The first ever school meals service in England (and Wales) starts. A stone is set for a rite of passage in a person’s life, and our school food journey starts.

1941

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The First Policy

| The first nutritional guidelines for school food are developed. These guidelines are advisory, and not mandatory to follow.

Black-and-white photo of a schoolroom or cafeteria where young children sit at a long table eating. Two older girls stand, serving and attending to the children. Vintage mid-20th-century interior with tiled walls and posters.

1960~

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Post War Cultural Shift

| Post-war England sees made-from-scratch food being served for school lunch, as rationing ends.

1970~

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Shrinking Budgets in the 70s

| Cost-cutting sets in, as school food becomes cheaper, and more processed. Meals are now budget-friendly, and easier to produce and serve.

Black-and-white photo of children eating in a crowded dining hall. A smiling boy in the foreground bites into a sandwich while a girl behind him looks toward the camera; plates and cups are on the tables around them.

1980

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Deregulation of School food

| School food is deregulated, and nutrition standards are removed, leaving the door wide open for...
| The ‘Beige Buffet’.
Poor nutritional quality of food takes over schools, and lunch trays become less colourful.

1990~

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 Lunchtimes slashed

| Lunchtimes are slowly shortened across the country. The pressure is on to make food faster, allowing fast food to start creeping into schools.

2006

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A new standard is set

| Mandatory nutritional based guidelines are set, leading to what we now know as ‘School Food Standards’. But the beige buffet continues…

2010~

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The rise of Grab-and-go

| A greater variety of food is served in schools, but pre-packaged and ready-to-eat lunches are on the rise — food gets even faster.

A group of children sit at a wooden table eating takeaway meals from white foam containers. The plates show fried chicken, greens and pineapple; bottled sodas, clear plastic fruit cups and utensils are scattered on the table. One child holds a drumstick while another gives a thumbs-up.

2014

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The standards are simplified

| The School Food Standards are updated, dropping the confusing nutritional based guidelines, allowing schools more creativity and flexibility over the meals served.

2019

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The Youth Bite Back

| Bite Back launches, co-founded by Jamie Oliver! A youth movement campaigning for healthier school food, and better access to free school meals is on the rise. Take a look at our journey.

Eleven of the original Bite Back activists stand in a courtyard with Jamie Oliver at Bite Back's launch event in 2019, Harrison is standing in the middle

2020-23

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Lunchtimes are slashed — again!

| Lunch breaks are shortened again, and some schools only have 30 minute breaks! Plus, food inflation means lunches that can be grabbed and eaten on the go are becoming the norm.

2026

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Bite Back is going back to school.
We’re on the hunt to uncover what’s really happening in school canteens.

Catch up, and see what we've discovered so far:

Our School Food Story