The public sector as a beacon of good food

In the nine years since I joined Soil Association Scotland, I have seen over and over the power of the public sector to deliver food that’s fresh, local and sustainable.

It’s inspiring to see how people all along the supply chains for our schools, universities, hospitals and other public sector settings can deliver more climate-friendly food on plates and are helping Scotland on its way to becoming a Good Food Nation.  

The Food for Life Scotland programme helps maximise the power of public sector food as a force for good. Since 2018, we’ve focused on supporting local authorities to gain Food for Life Served Here certification for their school meals services. We’ve seen great success. There are 15 Scottish local authorities with Food for Life Served Here at Bronze, Silver or Gold. In 2023, they collectively served 23.5 million FFLSH-certified school meals to Scottish school children.  

Our Public Sector Expansion Pilot, which we ran in 2022, gave us the opportunity to bring Food for Life to other public sector sites, initially in Glasgow. This week, we were able to celebrate one of the big success stories from this pilot, presenting hospitality provider Baxterstorey with the Food for Life Served Here bronze award for their locations at Glasgow Caledonian University and City of Glasgow College. These are the first Higher and Further Education sites to gain the award as a result of the pilot, and shows what can be achieved.  

That’s why I’m pleased to share that we are now working to expand Food for Life Scotland into the wider public sector at a national level, as a core part of our programme. As of April this year, we are tasked and funded by Scottish Government to provide support to public sector settings across Scotland to achieve the Food for Life Served Here award at Bronze, Silver or Gold.    

The Food for Life Served Here standards provide a framework for delivering good food across the public sector – food that’s good for health, the environment and the local economy. Our hope is that successes such as Baxterstorey’s in Higher and Further Education settings, and the path already paved by many local authorities, will inspire and encourage others from across the public sector – whether that’s more schools, colleges and universities, hospitals and care settings, prisons, or tourism and leisure facilities.  

Public procurement of sustainable, local and climate-friendly food provides a clear path to drive a transformation in food production and supply. And, the Food for Life Served Here award gives local authorities and public sector settings a strong framework through which they can achieve this.  

We know that the public sector can be a beacon of good food, setting the tone for the nation’s relationship with food, and we know the power of public procurement but we also understand the challenges public caterers are facing to maximise this. The public sector is one piece in a bigger food system puzzle, but we’re excited to continue working together to support this puzzle piece and deliver even more sustainable food for Scotland.