Renfrewshire Council gains Bronze sustainable catering certification for school meals
Image credit: Andy Buchanan
Renfrewshire Council has achieved the Food for Life Served Here Bronze certification for its school meals service across its 47 primary school sites. The prestigious certification is a nationally recognised mark of quality, which ensures the more than 6,000 school meals being served daily are good for pupils’ health, the environment and the local economy. The Council becomes one of 17 Scottish local authorities to hold the certification for its school meals service.
The Council previously held the Food for Life Served Here Bronze certification for its school meals service from 2017 to 2021. Food for Life Scotland have supported Renfrewshire’s catering term to deliver school meals that meet the FFLSH Bronze certification standards. The menu shows a commitment to Scottish ingredients, with QMS meat sourced from McLays, Scottish milk sourced from Muller and Scottish bread from McGhees all on the menu. Pupils enjoy freshly made dishes including spaghetti bolognese, Tex-Mex chicken enchiladas, and creamy cauli mac ‘n’ cheese.
The Food for Life Scotland (FFLS) programme, led by Soil Association Scotland and funded by Scottish Government since 2009, provides a framework through which local authorities and public sector sites can ensure they are serving good food. This is done by meeting a set of standards to achieve the Food for Life Served Here award at Bronze, Silver or Gold level.
As part of the Food for Life Served Here Award, Renfrewshire Council’s catering teams ensure that a minimum of 75 percent of dishes are freshly prepared from unprocessed ingredients. Meals are also free from undesirable trans fats, sweeteners and additives, and use free range eggs, higher welfare meat and ingredients from sustainable and ethical sources.
Seonaid O'Neil, Lead Facilities Manager, Renfrewshire Council said: “Renfrewshire Council catering is committed to continually improving its primary school meals and are delighted to have returned our school meals to holding the Food for Life Served Here Bronze certification. We worked with the Soil Association Scotland throughout the process to develop our menu to include tasty, nutritious and sustainable options which encourage pupils to be more adventurous with their meal choices. Providing access to new and varied food items and working to increase the knowledge of how the food we serve also supports Renfrewshire Council ambition for net zero targets has been a positive outcome. We will continue to review which further changes can be made to progress our current Bronze status to Silver!”
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs Mairi Gougeon MSP said: “This is a well-deserved recognition for the work by Renfrewshire Council’s catering teams, showing their dedication to serving high quality school meals to young children in their local area. The Food for Life Served Here Bronze certification is proof of their commitment in highlighting not only that you are able to return to the programme but how fresh, nutritious food can contribute to delivering better health, climate and economic goals.
“I hope other local authorities and public sector organisations acknowledge this achievement and urge them to work with the Food for Life Scotland team to achieve an award and help contribute to making Scotland a Good Food Nation.”
Sarah Duley, Head of Food, Soil Association Scotland said: “We’re delighted to welcome Renfrewshire Council back to Food for Life Scotland. Gaining the Food for Life Served Here Bronze certification is a huge achievement that shows the commitment of caterers to providing pupils with a hot, nutritious meal made with fresh, local and sustainable ingredients. That Renfrewshire Council have chosen to return to the scheme demonstrates the value of the certification as a framework for councils looking to support Scotland’s food businesses, deliver on their Good Food Nation requirements and offer healthy and sustainable meals to their young people. Congratulations to all involved.”