The 12-month Give Peas a Chance pilot aims to open up a new route to market for this local, organic, nutritious and climate friendly plant protein, allowing pupils to access healthy and sustainable food.
The organic peas will be in Aberdeen City Council schools from April 2024 until June 2025. Aberdeen City Council has held the FFLSH Bronze award since 2015. It serves more than 11,000 fresh, local and sustainable school meals in its 47 primary schools and 11 secondary schools every day.
Lucie Wardle, senior development manager at Soil Association Scotland, said: “We’re delighted to be part of this exciting pilot project. Introducing Scottish organic peas to the school meal plate will create a favourable environment for children to experience nature friendly foods in a fun and tasty way.
“We want to normalise enjoying pulses as part of a healthy diet and unlock barriers in the supply chain and current food culture to allow everyone to access climate friendly, nutritious and delicious foods.
“Products like these organic peas are a win-win. It’s a locally-sourced, sustainable product that’s good for health, the environment, and the local economy. Through this pilot project, we want to show the power of public procurement for getting more of these types of high-quality Scottish ingredients on to school meal plates.”