Argyll and Bute Council Celebrates 11 years of Fresh, Local Food
Argyll and Bute Council catering teams are celebrating after the council renewed its Food for Life Served Here Bronze award.
The council, which first received the award in 2013, is now serving 4,500 nutritious, sustainable and locally sourced Food for Life meals daily in its 67 primary schools and 58 early years settings.
Argyll and Bute is the second largest local authority by area in Scotland, covering almost 9% of the total Scottish land area, but it has the third sparsest population. There are 23 inhabited islands (more than any other local authority area), with around a fifth of the population living on an island, and over 45% living in a “remote rural” area.
This geographical profile means that Argyll and Bute faces considerable challenges in supplying the population generally, including supplying meals to 82 primary schools across its mainland and island areas. Some of the schools are very small – the smallest (Minard) has one pupil who receives their FFLSH meal courtesy of the five-roll Furnace school.
Despite the challenges, Argyll and Bute Council has held the Food for Life Served Here (FFLSH) Bronze award since 2013, serving just under 4,100 FFLSH-certified meals every day
The hard work and dedication of all involved has once again been recognised by the widely respected and independently assessed scheme led by Soil Association Scotland and funded by Scottish Government. The Food for Life Scotland programme provides a framework through which local authorities can ensure they are serving food that’s good for health, the environment, and the economy. This is done by following a set of standards to achieve the Food for Life Served Here award at Bronze, Silver or Gold level.
The council has taken steps to make public markets more accessible to local suppliers. Treating all suppliers ‘equally and without discrimination’, they have enabled local producers to participate on an equal footing by considering ‘early market engagement prior to the publication of a contract notice, breaking requirements into smaller lots where appropriate, and using clear and precise language in tender documents.
Argyll and Bute Council has developed a network of local suppliers. For example, fresh fruit and vegetables are supplied by JM Breckenridge, a family run business based in Oban, and a selection of baked goods come from Blacks of Dunoon Bakers, a family run bakery in Dunoon. They also used Mill’s Milk, based in Ayrshire and Jessmay’s, based in Rothesay.
Argyll and Bute Council’s Policy Lead for Finance and Commercial Services, Councillor Ross Moreland, said: “Our catering teams work extremely hard to provide our school pupils with sustainably sourced, nutritious, tasty meals, so it is a great achievement for them to receive this award for the eleventh time. They should be very proud of themselves and everything they do for our children and young people.”
Sarah Duley, Head of Food, Food for Life Scotland, said: “Congratulations to Argyll and Bute Council for renewing their Food for Life Served Here Bronze Award for another year. This is a huge achievement and shows that staff are dedicated to providing pupils with a hot, nutritious meal that’s healthy, freshly prepared and sustainably produced. We are delighted to recognise Argyll and Bute Council for continuing to put more good food on school plates and for supporting Scotland’s food businesses and Good Food Nation ambitions.”