The webinar titled ‘Making the transition to more sustainable menus’ took place during Public Sector Catering’s third Plant-Based Week (15-19 May). The week long celebrations aimed promote, encourage and inspire individuals and teams to adopt more plant-based food onto their public sector menus.
David Foad, editor of Public Sector Catering Magazine, opened the webinar by saying: “We know that caterers now routinely offer menus that have plant-based options on them. Meat Free Mondays for example has become fairly common in schools.
“Hospital menus have definitely turned greener than they were a few years ago and if you think about the Gen Z interest in the health and the environment then universities have a fairly easy job of it. They are probably pushing at a fairly open door.
“But is that enough? Dietary advice is that we should still be eating more fruit and vegetables. It’s clear that the food choices we make have a role to play in achieving net zero goals because a more plant-based diet is generally regarded as more sustainable. So then what should public sector caterers be doing about it? Well, that’s why we have got our panel of experts here today to offer some insight into these issues and more.”
The panel of experts included:
- Richard McIlwain, chief executive of the Vegetarian Society
- Moussa Haddad, Vegetarian for Life, charity's Head of Research and Policy
- Tony Mulgrew, the pioneering chef at award-winning Ravenscliffe School
- Colette Fox, who heads ProVeg UK’s School Plates programme
- Claire Ogley, head of campaigns, policy and research, with The Vegan Society
The webinar kicked-off with each of the five panelists introducing themselves as well as them offering a few thoughts about the work they do and trends in plant-based food. The webinar panelists then tackled some of the practical issues that caterers face when creating plant-based choices for their menus.
The full webinar is below.