Cross Party Food Group – 21 November 2012

Angela Mitchell, Soil Association gave a presentation. She is the newly appointed Food for Life Scotland manager working on meals provided outside the home.

Food for Life is an outcome of a report called Good Food for All. Funding has established a full time team of five, drawing on lots of Soil Association resources.

Food For Life promotes a quality mark for meals eaten out of the home called a Catering mark.
Bronze level means that 75% freshly prepared up to Gold being organic.
Pioneers have been East Ayrshire Council but Stirling and Highland Council are also involved. 14 out of the 32 Local Authorities are at some stage of engagement.

Vision is to include all local authorities by increasing the number of public sector kitchens within the Catering Mark. Demand will increase therefore it is important to ensure producers are satisfying the increased market.
Lettuce in Highland Council area has caused a few ripples. The lettuce has been very green because it is so fresh.

NHS Edinburgh has pilot sites at hospitals, schools and a Care home. Changes will be measured. Everyone is encouraged to get involved in collaborating to create volume, Meet the Buyers events.

Margaret Gilmour a Service Manager from Stirling Council explained their journey to the bronze level. One third of children in Scotland are termed obese or overweight. This is claimed to be more than food on the plate. For every £1 invested in Food for Life menus, the social and environmental return on investment is £3.

Stirling took a team approach working with local suppliers and audited all the ingredients in their recipes. In February 2012 the Soil Association granted bronze status. Outcome was that children and parents could be told about school meals containing 75% cooked from fresh, no additives, animal welfare, no trans fats and no eggs from caged hens.

Local suppliers used includes Mhor Food Group, Scotbeef and Graham's Dairies.
The Catering Mark provides an important endorsement.

Margaret expressed concerns and challenges – cuts to public sector finance, procurement process, welfare reform. She sees future opportunities to transform food culture by:
Contributing more to food education through Curriculum for Excellence and
Working with suppliers to simplify procurement process.

Achieving standards did increase the price of meals. Ticket price is £2 but there was a marked drop in uptake. Some parents said that they couldn't afford school meals for all their children. In East Ayrshire there was a similar experience, challenge is encouraging those who are entitled to free meals turning up for them. Real pressure on food costs.

Primary schools have had much more success than Secondary schools. Scottish Government were asked about moves to influence what happens beyond school. Problem is cost and resource to Catering Mark other outlets.

How will this be made relevant and understandable to consumers?
Dedicated Comms and Marketing person with a strategy to engage. Smaller communities will be the starting point. Healthy Living awards will promote the idea. Concern that all the great initiatives get lost.

Tartan Silk are running a project to encourage cooking of seafood in schools.