Our funding supports ProVeg UK’s School Plates programme to make plant-rich food more appealing in secondary schools. It combines menu development, chef training and student engagement, recognising that healthier food must be tasty, familiar, convenient and commercially workable.
ProVeg is developing new recipes with caterers and testing them with pupils before wider introduction. Student workshops build understanding and cooking confidence, while taste tests and co-creation sessions give young people a genuine role in menu decisions. This helps schools move beyond simply labelling food as healthy or plant-based and focus instead on the qualities that influence what pupils actually choose.
Training, peer learning and practical guidance also build catering staff confidence. ProVeg works with catering partners to address operational barriers, approval processes and concerns about cost or uptake.
Over three years, the grant will support delivery in at least 15 schools and the development of a wider pipeline through larger catering providers. NWF is funding this work because menu reform is more likely to last when pupils, chefs and caterers shape it together. The programme will also gather evidence about meal uptake and whether plant-rich changes increase vegetable and fibre consumption while reducing reliance on processed meat and ultra-processed food.
Awarded July 2025
