Tons of turkey for Durham Christmas lunch
A free festive lunch for 26,000 children
The annual ritual of peeling potatoes, stuffing the turkey and steaming sprouts on Christmas Day fills many of us with dread, so spare a thought for those with the marathon task of preparing for a festive lunch for 26,000 children.
Staff at Taylor Shaw, the main catering contractor for Durham County Councils free school meals pilot, will prepare a just under a tonne and a half (1482kg) of turkey, nearly a tonne of (866kg) of sprouts and around 250 litres of gravy as part of a celebratory special lunch. The team will also have to cater for more than 500 different special diets.
Jim Lovett, managing director for Taylor Shaw, said: Its a massive operation to create a really special Christmas dinner for that many children.
In addition to ordering and preparing the usual festive fayre in massive quantities, we also have to create different, and equally exciting, options for pupils who cant eat certain foods.
And like any other day, we also have to ensure that all of the meals meet our strict nutritional guidelines for children, so that the food were giving them contributes to a healthy balanced diet.
The team has planning it for weeks so we hope that all the work pays off and that children enjoy their special festive lunch.
Every primary school pupil in County Durham will receive free school meals until August 2011, as part of a Government pilot scheme jointly funded by central government, Durham County Council and NHS County Durham.
Posted on: Tuesday, 14th December 2010
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