If you’re a parent, chances are you’ve encountered Maureen Lowes’ work before – even if you don’t know it. The 59-year-old tells Kay Atwal how she ended up in charge of Barking and Dagenham’s school menus

“As the borough’s catering services manager I’m responsible for providing meals in primary and secondary schools, as well as civic and hospitality catering.

I’ve always been interested in food and I had some interesting jobs when I was young – working in salad bars and places for people to eat – and it just developed from there.

In the 1980s I had my own food business, producing cakes, biscuits and puddings for the retail market. I did that for five years but sold the business when the family got to the point when they were getting too demanding.

Since the late 1980s there has been a massive transition in catering. Jamie Oliver has come in and that has created a massive amount of change.

It’s exciting because I think as time has gone on menus have become more adventurous.

The community here is diverse and we have lots of different cultures and that makes us try different things on the menus.

It’s not just about providing a spot of lunch – it’s a lot more than that. We work with other local authorities; we do workshops and exchange ideas, and I think that is the way forward. When I went to college the route we were encouraged to take was into management, restaurants and hotels. But this has been quite an interesting route and I really do enjoy it.”