Cool Food Pro is a free carbon reduction calculator that promotes changes in practice for catering organisations, supporting them to source local, seasonal and organic produce, use less but better meat as well as reduce food and packaging waste.
The project was a cross-border collaboration between England and France, delivered by a team of five partner organisations, with the Soil Association in the UK supporting website development and caterer engagement.
The Norwich School, catered by Thomas Franks, reduced meat in three dishes and served these twice a month to 600 students. Between September and March, they saved 29,940kg of CO2e – a measurement which includes all greenhouse gases, not just carbon dioxide.
Christine Bailer, group director of nutrition and wellbeing at Thomas Franks Ltd, said: “Being able to measure and monitor key aspects such as food waste, meat and dairy consumption and use of seasonal foods has enabled us to significantly reduce our carbon footprint and support our educational work. Cool Food Pro is now an essential tool in all locations and provides additional support for our clients' sustainability initiatives.”
Cool Food Pro is now being rolled out nationally, with an additional 150 caterers already signed up. The carbon calculator is free to use and will continue to help caterers reduce their environmental impact, along with free downloadable resources on the Cool Food Pro website.