How Give Peas a Chance! increased organic spend in Aberdeen City

• The award-winning pilot opened a new route to market for this local, organic, nutritious and climate-friendly plant protein.
• It's funded by Sustain's Bridging the Gap programme, which funds projects to make organic food more accessible to all. 
• The pilot project is a partnership between Soil Association Scotland, Aberdeen City Council catering and procurement teams, pea producer Phil Swire of Balmakewan Farm, the Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET) and the Royal Northern Countryside Initiative (RNCI).
• The project was recently named Best Local Initiative Championing Children's Healthy Food at the Children's Food Awards.

Give Peas a Chance! is a pilot project to get organic peas into school meals, funded by Sustain’s Bridging the Gap Programme. The award-winning pilot aims to open a new route to market for this local, organic, nutritious and climate-friendly plant protein, allowing pupils to access healthy and sustainable food. It was named the Best Local Initiative Championing Children's Healthy Food at the Children's Food Awards 2025.

It is a partnership between Soil Association Scotland, Aberdeen City Council catering and procurement teams, pea producer Phil Swire of Balmakewan Farm, the Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET) and the Royal Northern Countryside Initiative (RNCI).

"The idea behind this project was to find a valuable route to market for these locally-grown organic peas," says Lucie Wardle, Senior Development Manager at Soil Association Scotland. "And we've managed to do that by getting these amazing peas into local school meals."

These dried split peas fix nitrogen into the soil as part of organic crop rotation, helping grow healthy, nutrient dense food. And they're a fantastic ingredient to include in school meals, as caterers in Aberdeen City school have discovered.

A nutritious and versatile ingredient

Begun in April 2024, the pilot project includes menu development to create innovative new pea-based recipes on the primary and secondary school menus alongside new educational resources developed by RHET and classroom visits from RNCI.

"I didn't realise how much you could actually do with the green peas," says Jenny Cowie, Cook in Charge at Bridge of Don Academy. "I was really shocked – and I've been a cook for years – about putting it into muffins and cookies ... A lot of people probably think you can make soup with them and that's it. But you can do so much with the peas. And the more I was reading into them, the nutritional value is really high." 

Fuel for learners

The Give Peas a Chance! pilot project demonstrates the commitment of Aberdeen City Council's catering teams to delivering nutritious, climate-friendly food. The council has held the Food for Life Served Here Bronze certification for its school meals since 2015, and the catering team are passionate about supporting pupils' learning with a fresh, local and sustainable school meal – for some children, the only hot meal they'll have each day.

"We are encouraging the children to eat vegetables that perhaps they wouldn't actually have chosen in the first place," says John Landragon, Catering Manager, Aberdeen City Council, "and also it gives them the fuel to become effective learners within the classroom. So it's a win-win."

Pupils have also had the opportunity to learn about the new ingredient, through classroom talks delivered by RNCI. "To introduce a new ingredient like this into a menu without giving teachers and pupils the chance to learn about it is really difficult," says Alison Johnston, Project Manager, RNCI. "This is such a great opportunity for pupils and teachers to learn all about the journey of the peas from the farm to the plate."

The peas are already on the menu within Aberdeen City's school, with the pilot project running until June 2025. 

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