Meet the Team: Rachel Berry

Each month, E-News will introduce you to a member of our Soil Association Scotland and Food for Life Scotland teams. This month, Communications Manager Rachel Berry talks about the importance of storytelling and her local authority highlights.

Q1. What is your name and your job title?

My name is Rachel Berry and I’m Communications Manager at Soil Association Scotland.

Q2. When did you join Food for Life Scotland?

I joined the Food for Life Scotland team in 2019. It was not long after Inverclyde Council had gained its Food for Life Served Here Bronze award, so one of my first tasks was to interview the catering team there. This was an absolutely fantastic introduction to how local authorities adapt catering services to align with the FFLSH standards.

Within my first six months, we entered the first COVID lockdown. During that time, I saw how much effort local authority catering teams in East Renfrewshire, Edinburgh, East Lothian and Argyll and Bute – among many others – put into making sure pupils received a school meal in incredibly challenging circumstances.

Since then, my highlights have included:

• gathering in Glasgow to celebrate BaxterStorey gaining the certification for its Scottish Government workplaces and Scottish Courts locations – the first sites to gain the award following our public sector pilot

• our online celebration to mark Orkney Islands Council gaining the Food for Life Served Here Bronze award in 2021

• hearing from pupils about their involvement in Dunblane Primary School’s Chef’s Apprentice programme at Stirling’s 10 years of Silver celebration in March 2024

• working with Aberdeen City Council on the Give Peas a Chance! pilot programme, which is opening up a new route to market for locally grown organic dried split peas.

Q3. What is one of your favourite things about working at Soil Association/Food for Life Scotland? 

My children attend school in a local authority area that holds the Food for Life Served Here award for its school meals. I love that I’m part of an organisation that’s working to have a positive impact on the wellbeing of my children and children across Scotland.

Q4. Why is sustainability important to you?

Working for a charity allows me to see the impact of the work I do. I chose to join Soil Association Scotland because I wanted to do something about the climate crisis. Bad news makes headlines – but there are so, so many people doing good work to make a difference. That’s us, and it’s the caterers we work with, too. I think that’s something to be proud of.

Q5. Can you walk us through a day in your life?

A day as the Communications Manager can look a bit like this:

9.00am – check the news and share any key headlines with the team about our award holders, our programme and food in general. I have a quick catch up with our Comms Officer Louise about priorities for the day.

10.00am – content writing. This could be a press release, a blog for our website or reviewing our e-news or social media content.

11.00am – check in with the Food for Life Scotland team. This is a great touchpoint for our whole team to connect and share ideas and information when we’re not all together in the office.

12.30pm – lunch. If I’m at home, I’ll usually have a soup or a salad. There are lots of great food options near the office, too. I always try to get outside and take a walk.

1.30pm – event planning. It’s always fantastic when we get an opportunity to celebrate our award holders, and one of the best parts of my job is getting into schools and other public sector sites to see what the Food for Life served Here award means in practice. Planning these events involves a lot of detail – and a lot of emails! – but it’s always well worth it on the day.

3.30pm – catch up with the wider Food for Life comms team. We work closely with our fantastic colleagues in Bristol, who look after the Cook and Share campaign and other initiatives throughout the year that aim to get people cooking good food.

4pm – team support. I work closely with colleagues across Food for Life Scotland to provide resources that support their work. Recently, that’s included developing resources for the SOLACE dinner at Melville Castle hotel, and materials for our educational activities at the Royal Highland Show.

5pm – I close my laptop and dash out for nursery and after school club pick up!

Q6. What is your favourite dish to cook?

There’s a recipe for sweet potato nachos I really love – sliced sweet potatoes, black beans, cheese, and fresh guacamole and tomato salsa. Delicious!

Q7. What is a recipe book you always go back to, and why?

My favourite recipe book is a magazine – I always pick up BBC Good Food, because I know I’ll get a good variety of recipes that match what I want from my food at home: lots of fresh food, a focus on sustainable ingredients, and meals that are easy to prepare quickly.

Q8. What is a thing you do to relax?

I love to read. There’s never enough time for all the books! I read fiction and non-fiction, including books connected to food. I found Dr Chris Van Tulleken's Ultra-Processed People very interesting, and Niki Segnit's The Flavour Thesaurus is an old favourite for a cook book with a difference.

Q9. What is a podcast you’re listening to right now? If not, album?

My favourite podcast is The Tennis Podcast, which is a weekly round up of all the latest in the world of professional tennis. I’ve followed the sport closely since Andy Murray’s first Wimbledon in 2005 – don’t ask me to play though, as my hand-eye coordination is not the best!

Q10. What is one thing people you wish people would know about your role?

In communications, we love a good story! When you’re in the middle of your day-to-day work, it’s hard to step back and see the difference your work is making – it may feel like it’s just your job and anyone could do it. But that’s hardly ever the case. The Food for Life Scotland comms team loves sharing stories about the incredible work caterers are in schools and across the public sector. Get in touch to find out how we can share yours!