I found myself time and time again coming back to the word ‘collaboration’ as without that we are all running around like headless chickens, all facing similar if not exactly the same issues.
The PSCA facilitates that collaboration and we really need to walk the talk. Amongst our own are true experts, industry leaders, facilitators and champions of change and we need to harness all of that energy, knowledge and skill and hone it to all our advantages.
I see daily, wonderful work of front line caterers bringing nutritious delights to the table. We need to build communities around those tables ensuring that #publicfood is at the heart of our nations wellbeing. Food truly is medicine, but we sometimes don’t just need healing, we need preventative medicine. Good nutrition and hydration we know leads to better results and fewer cases of illness. My Nan used to say ‘prevention is better than cure’ and I agree, so we need public food to be clearly understood and what benefits it can bring.
A meals on wheels meal not only delivers great nutritional benefits for the recipient, but just as importantly it delivers a social interaction, which might be the only one all day for that person. The school meal that is served to a pupil may be the only time they ever sit at a table with others using cutlery and interacting with their peers, teachers and dining staff and it can deliver a real sense of community.
The patient in a hospital bed perhaps only has the food they have ordered to look forward to and those moments when the food arrives can bring great comfort and warmth with the way it is delivered and presented. A person living in care, who has to be helped to eat, the love and compassion with which it is served can make meal times something to relish rather than dread.
And a student living away from home for the first time, meeting daily with the catering team, who have no expectation of their academic achievement, but just want to offer a welcome, can create a real home from home and enable them to gain confidence and flourish as young adults.
The point I am making is we are not just food factories, we are delivering a key and core service to our communities. We deliver via people and people are what count to other people. A smile, a warm welcome, a quick check to see how you are make all the difference.
Our teams on the front line can quickly tell when something is not right and can provide critical care or signposting to other care services. Never underestimate the power of public food, we literally are ensuring our nation is well and we are preventing unnecessary pressure as well as costs on other vital services.
So in these trying times, we need to come together, to collaborate, to share and to continue delivering great food and service across the public sector. Keep sharing your stories with us and don’t forget to use the hash-tag #Publicfood so we can really celebrate what we do day in, day out, 24/7.
In a few weeks we will bring together the PSCA most influential for a round table discussion and debate. Our focus will be on current issues that we are facing such as the cost of living crisis, labour shortages, provision costs, utility costs and of course inflation and together we will formulate a collaborative action plan, to ensure we speak with a single voice and clearly define our ask of our leaders to ensure we are resourced appropriately to meet the demands placed upon us. We hope to lobby and effect change for good.
You may have seen we recently launched the second survey of public sector caterers, if you haven’t filled it in yet, I urge you to do so, as we need an accurate picture to help inform that debate and help us to prioritise on what is really happening on the front line. So don’t delay – fill it out today!
Thanks for all you do and keep up the amazing work, you truly are catering heroes.
Watch Matt's interview with David Foad
