School meals go regional in the East Midlands

On Friday 28th November 2008, over 200 local suppliers have been invited to listen to and understand how they can supply the school meals service within the Region. The event is hosted at Notts County Football Ground Meadow Lane, Nottingham. and will start at 12.30. Derbyshire County, Derby City, Nottinghamshire County, Nottingham City, Leicester City and Northamptonshire Councils are working jointly in creating a demand for regionally grown and reared produce. By combining resources it plans to ensure food suppliers have an easier access to contracts for schools across the region regardless of where they're based. Robert Danks from Food Chain Solutions says: "The region should be justifiably proud of the standard of produce that is available and with the increased focus now nationally on school meal quality we need to do all we can to achieve sustainable supply chains that benefit both procurers and producers in the East Midlands" Peter McGrath, Head of Catering for Derbyshire County Council commented: "The standards in welfare for UK animals far exceeds those in the rest of Europe and have been on our menus for a number of years. By working collaboratively in the East Midlands we have identified some common areas and can now collectively stimulate demand in the Region for quality assured products." Kevin McKay, Head of Service for Nottinghamshire County Council says: "This is an exciting and excellent initiative for the East Midlands. School meals are proving to be an extremely valuable contribution to improving the health and wellbeing of pupils across the Region. By working and promoting the use of regional ingredients, parents can be confident that we take the quality of food we serve extremely seriously." Over 200 producers from across the region have been invited to attend this event. Over £25m per year is spent on food in the region these include over 500,000 eggs, 1,000 tonnes of Jacket Potatoes, 240 tonnes of Cheese, and 77 tonnes of minced beef.