A Co Monaghan based chef has highlighted the importance of providing young people with fresh and nutritious meals.
Karl Breen of Wild Thyme Restaurant in Threemilehouse provides over 300 hot school meals to nearby schools every day.
The Hot School Meals Programme is a Department of Social Protection initiative that was championed by former Minister Heather Humphreys.
It provides nutritious, hot lunches to primary school children across Ireland to tackle food poverty and support nutrition.
Award-wining chef Karl Breen believes getting local cafes and restaurants involved with the scheme and suppling local schools with quality meals is the "way forward."
While Karl hopes to get more schools on board next year, he highlighted his concerns with the new procurement service describing it as "very rigorous."
Karl says it makes it harder for smaller businesses to compete with larger industries.
The local business owner hopes that the Government can review the current process and make it easier for smaller businesses to get involved and supply local schools with quality food that our young people deserve.
Jodie Curran has been speaking with the award winning chef and began by asking him how he first got involved with the Hot School Meals service:
