Nine caterers awarded Soil Association's Food for Life Catering Mark

The Catering Mark is an award scheme which offers a step-by-step route to providing freshly prepared, locally produced, seasonal and organic food. Open to caterers in all sectors, the Catering Mark has three tiers: bronze, silver and gold, with the gold award requiring the caterer's menu to be 75% freshly prepared, 50% local and 30% organic. Jeanette Orrey, school meals policy advisor to the Soil Association, said: "I'm thrilled about the excellent work done by each of these caterers – it's great to know that over 70,000 school children are eating freshly prepared, locally sourced and seasonal food every day, in London alone. "We've come a long way but there's still more to do – and the Catering Mark is a real asset to caterers who can show their customers that they're playing a key role in transforming our food culture." Gareth Harrison, director client services, Harrison Catering added: "We are delighted that our ethos of fresh food prepared from great ingredients has been recognised in this way by the Soil Association. We've long believed in intelligent, sustainable buying and working closely with our clients to create carefully tailored menus for individual schools and communities. "In addition, the growth in our meal numbers would suggest that this really is the best way to drive a popular, successful and great value meal service." The London winners include: Accent Catering Services Ltd – bronze for 21 schools across South East London • Alliance in Partnership – bronze for 23 schools in Kensington and Chelsea • Caterlink Ltd – silver for 50 schools in Islington and Bronze for 60 schools in the Borough of Camden • Eden Food Service – silver for 96 schools in the Borough of Croydon • Harrison Catering Service Ltd – bronze for 55 schools in Bexley, 59 in Ealing, 63 schools in Lambeth, 23 in Southwark and 64 schools in Wandsworth • Havering Catering Service – bronze for 53 schools in the Borough of Havering • Independent Catering - bronze for 43 schools across Kent and South East London • ISS Facility Services Education – silver for 48 schools in the London Borough of Merton and bronze for 52 schools in the Borough of Redbridge • Pride Catering – gold for St Stephen's School, Twickenham These achievements were celebrated on Thursday 2 December at an awards ceremony at Central Hall, Westminster, where TV personality Fern Britton presented the awards to caterers from London, the South-east and East of England.