Monday 4 July 2022 09:33 AM Beef is OFF the menu for school meals to be replaced by gammon trends now
Beef is being replaced with gammon on school dinner menus as caterers opt for cheaper meats in response to rapidly rising prices.
Some caterers are also switching from British meat to produce from abroad, raising concerns that the quality of meals is under threat.
Laira Green Primary School in Plymouth had previously served local Cornish beef for its Thursday roast dinners, but has now switched to cheaper gammon instead.
It is also serving less chicken and replacing it with turkey.
Beef has been swapped for cheaper gammon on some school dinner menus in response to rising prices
The school is one of nearly 70 in the city served by the same catering company, which is adapting menus in response to price rises, the BBC reported.
Head teacher Bernadette Kennedy said she was pleased the school could still offer a 'healthy roast meal', but added: 'Some children stopped having roast dinner, and when we asked them why, they said they really liked the roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.'
Laca, the school caterers' association for England and Wales, says schools are at 'breaking point' amid a storm of price rises and supply chain issues.
Out of 160 catering companies which responded to a survey it recently published, more than 60 said they had either already switched from British meat to cheaper foreign meat, or were planning to do so soon.
Others are offering different types of fruit and vegetables.
Recent Retail Price Index figures for food bought by ordinary shoppers showed the average price of a roasting joint of beef had risen by 9.8 per cent to £11.34 over the year to April, while chicken had risen by 10.4 per cent to £3 a kilo.
But caterers are reporting even more dramatic rises of between 20 and 30 per cent for many products, with prices often changing by the week.
The cost of minced beef rose by 11 per cent overnight in
