Melanie Southerden

Overview

School Lunches and Equity: A Food Systems Approach to Optimising Minimally Processed Food in England’s School Food Standards (October 2024-September 2028)

The escalating global prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity presents a critical public health concern, and in the UK, rates continue to rise despite national initiatives. As schools provide up to 30% of children’s food intake, they are key settings for equitable dietary change. The new Labour Government’s proposed revisions to the School Food Standards reflect concerns about the persistent rise in childhood obesity, the quality of school food, and legislative compliance. This study addresses these priorities by evaluating the dietary, health, and educational impacts of increasing minimally processed food (MPF) in primary school lunches across high-income countries (tackling obesity), mapping and contextualising current catering provision and providers in England to identify opportunities to optimise MPF provision (improving food quality), and generating contemporary, evidence-based recommendations to inform procurement strategies and guide future iterations of the School Food Standards (supporting compliance).

This research project is funded by a doctoral scholarship from the School of Health and Medical Sciences at City St George’s University of London and is being undertaken by Melanie Southerden.

Melanie has recently graduated from the Food Policy MSc programme (with Distinction), has graduated with an MA (with Distinction) in an unrelated discipline, is a qualified solicitor who, after 4 years working in procurement, retrained as a classical chef at Le Cordon Bleu, with which she has worked in professional kitchens from contract catered environments to Michelin restaurants over the past 10 years.

1^stsupervisor

• Professor Christina Vogel, Professor in Food Policy

2^ndsupervisor

• Dr Rebecca Wells, Associate Professor

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