We have been working with the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership over the last year to ask parents in the city what they think about school meals. The B & H City Council is now working on its new tender for the Primary School Meals contract and we wanted to gather together the views of parents to ensure the school meals team can take these into full account.

Please help us by completing this short survey about your family's experience of the school lunchtime experience and you will be entered into a prize draw to win £50 of shopping vouchers!

Complete our survey now which will be open over the summer holidays, feedback will be available on the website in September.

The school meals team thought it might be helpful for you to have some facts about schools dinners provided in Brighton & Hove Primary schools:

Menus served to children within the City of Brighton & Hove are developed in partnership with the contractor responsible for the provision of school meals in Primary & Special Schools across the city. We aim to create menus that appeal to children and encourage them to widen their palate. Therefore menus served reflect popular children's choices (based on feedback directly from pupils in dining rooms or student council meetings) and adhere to current nutritional guidelines.

The nutritional guidelines set by the government ensure that the meals served to children encourage healthy eating and support curriculum learning for healthy lifestyles. With this in mind we would be pleased to incorporate feedback from parents about menu choices.

Key nutritional targets 

ü      We are required to serve red meat (pork, beef or lamb) twice a week

ü      We must serve fish once a week

ü      We must serve oily fish at least once every three weeks

ü      Not less than 2 portions of fruit and vegetables should be served daily

ü      Starchy food cooked in fat or oil must not be provided on more than three days in a single week across the school day.

ü      Bread with no added fat or oil must be provided on a daily basis

ü      There should be easy access at all times to free, fresh drinking water

ü      Only one meat product (manufactured or homemade) from each of the four separate groups can be provided across the school day within a fortnight.

Group 1: Burger, hamburger, chopped meat, corned meat.

Group 2: Sausage, sausage meat, link, chipolata, luncheon meat.

Group 3: Individual meat pie, meat pudding, Melton Mowbray pie, game pie, Scottish (or Scotch) pie, pasty, pastie, bridie, sausage rolls

Group 4: Any other shaped or coated meat product e.g. nuggets, goujons, coated (e.g. breaded or battered) chicken breast, meat balls, haggis, kofta kebabs.

For more information go to http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/index.cfm?request=c1124722

You can also email the school meals team on schoolmeals@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Or call them on (01273) 293590

The Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival is a celebration of the best food and drink to be found in the city and wider Sussex, with producers, restaurants, pubs, bars, retailers, markets and great events firmly at its heart.

The Festival is now established as the largest of its kind on the south coast and is one of the most important cultural events in Brighton & Hove's calendar. Over 100,000 foodies enjoyed the 2009 festival and 2010 will be bigger and better than ever with events running throughout the year. The 2010 Festival started with a new event - the 11 day ‘Spring Harvest' festival in March.

This year the Festival runs from 1st September through to 7th October and is jam-packed with events including those for families and children. Here's our pick of family-friendly events:

• Official Festival launch at Brighton Racecourse - 1st September
• Big Sussex Market - Saturday 11 & Saturday 12 September
• Live Food Stage 2010 - Saturday 11 & Sunday 12 September
• The Utterly Butterly Ukulele Project - Saturday 11 & Sunday 12 September
• Fiery Foods UK Chilli Festival - Saturday 18 & Sunday 19 September

For full details of all events please see the website - www.brightonfoodfestival.com

Are you the next Spielberg, Scorsese or Tarantino? Here's your chance to not only make a film but to get it screened as part of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Film Nation: Shorts is a UK-wide film making competition for anyone aged 14-25. It doesn't matter whether or not you've made a film before.

The judges are looking for films up to three minutes long, inspired by the Olympic and Paralympic Values of respect, excellence, friendship, courage, determination, inspiration, and equality. It could be a documentary, drama or animation or something a bit experiemntal; a film that you've already made or something brand new.

Closing date: 1 October 2010, so start getting creative...

To find out more and to see some of the entries so far go to www.filmnation.org.uk

Join local residents for an event where you can share and taste food, participate in fun, family friendly activities and learn to cook tasty meals with local food at home.

The picnic will take place on Saturday, 25 September 2010 from 11am-4pm at Preston Park - behind the Rotunda Cafe.

This picnic is part of the city's first ‘Local Food Week', 20-26 September 2010, other
events will include a film screening, photo exhibition, allotment open days and more.

Here's what's happening on the day:

• Bring your own picnic or purchase food and drink from local producers
• Bring excess produce you've grown or chutneys and jams to swap!
• Bring your ‘wonkiest vegetable' to enter into our competition
• Take a tour of our demonstration vegetable garden
• Plus more family friendly activities and cookery demonstrations

To find out more please go to: www.harvest-bh.org.uk/events, contact the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership on 01273 431700 or harvest@bhfood.org.uk