Chefs in schools is a charitable initiative that aims to improve the health of children through better school food and education. While writing the School Food Plan, Henry Dimbleby (a governor at his children’s state primary, Gayhurst Community School in Hackney) posted a tweet asking whether anyone would be interested in taking over the school kitchen.
Nicole Pisani – then head chef at the acclaimed Soho restaurant Nopi decided to change paths, applied, and was immediately offered the job.
Since arriving at Gayhurst, Nicole retrained the school cooks using the restaurant brigade system. They cook everything from scratch and bake bread daily. She also took charge of the cooking curriculum, teaching the children to butcher chickens and cook over fire pits in the playground.
This work became the model for Chefs in Schools who now work to help other schools completely transform their school food and education.
‘The more we talk about where food comes from in the classroom and at lunchtime the more interested the children become in trying things for themselves.’ – Nicole Pisani, Head Chef, Chefs in Schools.
Chefs in schools reached out to Supreme Creations asking if we could help with their latest project – delivering food parcels to children in Hackney. The food parcels are made entirely of donated ingredients and meals, and this was to help families who were getting the £15 food voucher and not necessarily knowing how to make that money make a week’s worth of healthy meals for their children.
Also, with all the recent negative press the food parcels were getting in the media, this was a great way to show what can be produced from the generosity of communities in London. The problem that they had was, as they had so much food, we were giving out 5 bags per family (250 bags in total) which is costly for them and the bags weren’t sturdy enough to be reused.
At Supreme Creations we are intent on making sure that as a business we give back as much as we possibly can. Our recent Great British Designer Face Covering’s project helped us to raise over £1 million for 3 different charities, and we are always on the lookout for new projects that enable us to help those in need, such as getting involved with Chef’s in Schools.
It’s simple – we want to help make the planet a better place for the people on it, through our ethically and sustainably produced product and charitable efforts.
Supreme Creations x Chefs in Schools
