LACA National Conference 2010 School Food – one voice one vision, Incorporating the school meals catering exhibition, Hilton Birmingham Metropole, 7-9 July 2010

Article Type: Conference report From: Nutrition & Food Science, Volume 40, Issue 6.

One voice one vision, Incorporating the school meals catering exhibition, Hilton Birmingham Metropole, 7-9 July 2010

The annual event brought together key catering personnel from local education authorities to network and discuss the issues they face in both conference sessions and around the extensive exhibition stands.

One of the key items of the conference is the way that local authority caterers association (LACA) enables anyone involved in school catering to attend the exhibition and associated talks for free.

The event is brought annually by LACA – the professional body representing catering managers and suppliers who provide catering services to UK local authorities.

Since inception, LACA, now LACA Ltd has set out to inform, develop, represent and support its members through a range of initiatives and services. It is a professional body representing 800 catering managers and over 100,000 staff employed in nearly 20,000 schools that provide services to local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales. The Northern Ireland region is currently dormant. The membership of LACA Ltd is diverse, and includes public and private sector providers, client officers, dieticians and individual schools, as well as a body of associate members who are jointly responsible for the supply of over £425m worth of food and equipment to the school catering service.

The conference programme included:

• fresh vs frozen foods;

• national school meals week;

• poverty and obesity challenges;

• £1 school lunch pilot scheme; and

• sustainability and food.