If the pilot is a success it will be expanded to other areas of Scotland in the future, thanks to increased funding from the Scottish Government.
Food for Life Scotland (FFLS) supports local authorities to serve school meals that are good for pupils' health, the environment and for the local economy by supporting them to achieve the Food for Life Served Here (FFLSH) award for their school meals service. This can be certified at three levels: Bronze, Silver and Gold. Glasgow City Council already holds the FFLSH Bronze award across its 130 primary schools and 7 ASN schools.
During the one-year pilot, FFLS will research expanding into other public sector settings, including the NHS, prisons, care homes, further and higher education settings, and council-run leisure and culture facilities.
Sarah Duley, head of food at Food for Life Scotland, said: “We’re excited about this opportunity to help bring fresh, local and sustainable school meals to more of Scotland’s public sector.
“Working closely with existing Food for Life Served Here award holders, we’ve seen how the hard work of local authorities in Scotland means school caterers are leading the way in delivering good food in the public sector. With these values now embedded in the City of Glasgow’s food culture, it’s a fantastic time to build upon this success and deliver the benefits of the Food for Life programme in new settings.”
The Scottish Government is supporting this expansion as part of its manifesto commitment to ‘increase the use of healthy Scottish produce and explore how to embed a Food for Life approach in the new National Care Service, in the NHS, in prisons and in further and higher education sectors’.
Food for Life Scotland is now seeking to engage with those working in public sector catering and procurement in Glasgow. If you work in public sector settings in Glasgow, such as local authority sites, higher and further education or the NHS, and would like to learn more about how Food for Life Scotland can support you to achieve the Food for Life Served Here award, please get in touch with Sarah Gowanlock, project officer at Food for Life Scotland (sgowanlock@soilassociation.org).