In with Penny, and off with a pound...

In a move – echoing the stance made by top chef Jamie Oliver in the UK – Penelope McDonough, the healthy food campaigner who launched a company to help sit-at-their-desk executives change their eating habits is now targeting the young.

She believes helping schoolchildren eat well at lunchtime is the key to solving a growing obesity crisis.
The British School in Adliya has now signed Penny’s Catering for a permanent scheme involving salads, pasta dishes and even a pre-packed lunch box containing a healthy alternative to fattening snacks.
“It’s quiet frightening what’s happening to our children but perhaps we’re at the start of helping to change things for the better,” said Penny, who began her business making “a low fat, no preservatives and no additives-added sandwich” for sale just over 12 months ago, and now runs a thriving catering operation.
Penny’s is based in the Yateem Centre in Central Manama. It includes a kitchen, refrigeration and preparation room, delivery and outside catering operations office and a diner and coffee shop based on a concept called ‘food that makes your body smile’.
Her team is now providing a daily food supply to a cabin at the British School - which has 547 pupils - in a joint venture with industrial caterer, Mohammed Jalal Catering.  The pasta, in particular, appears to be a favourite of the children.
“The food has definitely changed, it is much better now. With Penny’s we have more options, more variety. The cookies are yummy too!” said British School student Daniella Janine (14).
“Earlier, the food used to be greasy but now it’s all healthy,” added Jazeb Malik (15).
Penny’s is also developing a scheme to provide ready-made lunch boxes, which are sold for BD1 to senior pupils every day, and are offered to juniors who can make a one-time payment at the beginning of each term.
“We want to give parents and pupils the chance to choose from a variety of healthy food groups. They can pick the items they like for their individual lunch box. It’s responsible, convenient and good fun,” Penny explained.
Penny, 45, has brought together a team to develop the business which includes Carina Hylested, a qualified nutritionist supervising in the kitchen and maintaining quality control; Linda Pearson, the catering manager; and Michael Groos, a retired German chef.
Penny said: “When we started we had nothing. We literally used to take baskets into office buildings to urge people to try our products.
“But once they tasted our sandwiches they kept coming back. They then told their friends and the word spread.”
Penny moved to Bahrain from Dubai six years ago. She said: “I would love other schools to feel encouraged about what we are doing and realise that it’s possible to tackle this issue.
“I am very keen to help the government, who are also extremely concerned about the children. We are ready to help them with their campaigns, even if they don’t want us to supply the food.
“We want people to know we are doing it – and doing well – and it is possible for any school to realise there are healthy alternatives out there.”