Ashlyns, named after one of our three farms, began life in 1999. As part of the bigger farming operation we grew organic vegetables for local customers as well as the supermarkets but it soon became clear that our future would be both varied and colourful.

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In 2003 Gary Stokes, Ashlyns Projects Director, asked the question "where are our next customers and what are they eating now?" This question led to the start of "Feeding Our Future", a project that was set up to help improve school meals. This idea came about beforeJamie Oliver’s campaign to do likewise and in many ways the ethos behind both initiatives is very similar. The passion within our project is driven by a desire to have school meals cooked in all schools using fresh local ingredients, prepared by a confident well motivated catering team and enjoyed by children from all walks of life who will gain an understanding of where their food has come from and how it was produced.

 

This sounds easy enough on paper but in reality, there are many hurdles to overcome. Increasingly tight budgets, the economy, local sourcing, an understanding of school catering, adequate training and food awareness are just a few of the reasons why we now offer a broad range of services to meet our customers needs. We have our own butchers, pack

house, delivery vans  and dedicated experienced team to offer support from in-house catering through to managing your service for you in the form of our "Catering Partnerships".

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Gary started developing the “Feeding our Future” project over 20 years ago and has worked closely with schools throughout Hackney, Haringey, Tower Hamlets, Essex and Cambridgeshire, some initially on a consultancy basis but subsequently on a contract catering arrangement. He has been heavily involved with improving school meals’ initiatives and healthy eating, working with the School Food Trust, Health Education Trust, Garden Organic and the Soil Association as well as working with PSFPI, EFFP, DEFRA, EEDA and LANTRA promoting local sourcing and the agri food sector.

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Grounded in the belief that we work in complete partnership with the school and with the ethos that together with can make a real impact and a considerable difference in the whole school meal experience, we strive to maintain throughout an adherence to the moral and ethical principles on which Ashlyns is founded, and our team of professional staff, in touch with educational issues facing schools today, work to forge effective relationships with school staff to attain our mutual goals.

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A commitment to using locally sourced, organic where possible, and environmentally sound raw ingredients for our meals cooked entirely on school premises is at the heart of our vision, and our practice.

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Our children deserve great school dinners they enjoy eating and that are healthy as well. We work with schools in innovative ways to ensure that children are not only fed well but are food wise too. Food tasting sessions with parents, assemblies, sessions in class are all part of our whole school approach.

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