The council, which first received the award for its primary school meals back in 2022, is now serving over 11,000 nutritious, sustainable and locally-sourced Food for Life meals in its 32 primary schools and 22 nurseries every day.
It’s the first time the award includes their nurseries, highlighting this commitment to putting good food on the plate. The Bronze award recognises that a minimum of 75% of dishes are freshly prepared from unprocessed ingredients.
Glasgow-based McLays Foods ensures high quality meat, sourcing from farms in Perthshire and Aviemore. George Carruthers & Sons Ltd provides East Dunbartonshire schools with Scottish blueberries, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, raspberries, strawberries and turnips.
Councillor Paul Ferretti, Convener of the Place, Neighbourhood & Corporate Assets Committee, said: “This is a great achievement for the Council’s school meals service, building on the already excellent standards they have achieved to ensure that our Primary School pupils receive a first class service.
“The expansion of this award to cover our 22 early years centres and nurseries shows the Council’s commitment to serving up healthy lunches that are environmentally friendly and as locally sourced as possible. Our lunch menus offer a variety of balanced meal options and I would urge families who don’t already use the service to take a look at what’s on offer.
“This latest award is testimony to the quality service that is available to local children. Congratulations to everyone, including those in our school kitchens across the area, whose hard work has been recognised with this award.”
Pupils enjoy nutritious, sustainable and locally-sourced meals, including soups and seasonal vegetable accompaniments. From Meat-Free Monday to Around the World Thursday, each day offers a selection of delicious dishes and fun themes.
East Dunbartonshire’s caterers are also working with pupils to help them learn more about healthy eating and seasonality. They are also committed to theme days around educating pupils of where their food comes from.
Sarah Duley, head of food at Food for Life Scotland, added: “This is a huge achievement and shows that staff are dedicated to providing pupils with a meal that’s healthy, freshly prepared and sustainably produced.
“In the context of the cost-of-living crisis, access to a hot, nutritious school meal has never been more important, and we would like to thank catering teams in East Dunbartonshire for the care and hard work they put in to delivering this every single day.”