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Good Food on the Public Plate
Pilot project calendar

August 2004

  • Organic certification training(1) for hospitals(2)
  • Local tomato supply(3) to the Bethlem Royal hospital
  • Supplier seminar(4)

    • July 2004

  • Organic strawberries(5) trial supply to St Georges and the Royal Brompton
  • Prince Charles visits St Georges hospital(6)
  • First meeting of replication network(7)
  • Bethlem Royal hospital replaces Lambeth hospital in project
  • Second project working party(8) meeting

    • June 2004

  • Hospitals visit organic horticulture enterprise and organic dairy farm(9)
  • Discussions begin re local/organic milk supply(10)

    • May 2004

    First project working party(11) meeting

    April 2004

    Economic and health evaluations(12) begin

    March 2004

  • Meetings with local/organic suppliers and producer groups begin
  • Distribution research(13) begins

    • February 2004

  • Lord Whitty visits the Royal Brompton hospital(14)
  • Tender for distribution research(15) , economic evaluation and health evaluation(16)
  • Hospitals identify types of products which they would like to source local/organic

    • January 2004

  • Project launched
  • Preliminary meetings with hospitals:(17) St Georges, the Royal Brompton, the Lambeth, Ealing hospital

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    1) Organic certification training - Hospital catering departments and suppliers will need to comply with organic regulations if they are to prepare and offer organic foods for consumption. The certification workshop covered essential topics such as sourcing of organic ingredients and record keeping.

    2) Hospitals

    3) Local tomato supply - Using an existing fresh produce supplier, working out of New Covent Garden Market, the project facilitated the supply of tomatoes grown in West Sussex

    4) Supplier seminar - As hospitals have expressed a preference to source via their existing suppliers where possible, we invited a range of existing suppliers to a seminar to discuss the feasibility of their involvement in the project. The suppliers who attended the seminar were supportive of the project. Many commented that to source local/organic food for the hospitals would involve quite substantial changes to their business operations.

    5) Organic strawberries - St Georges and the Brompton took part in a trial supply of organic strawberries from grower Adrian Izzard in Cambridgeshire. The organic strawberries, for sale in the canteen at St Georges during Wimbledon, sold out! The Royal Brompton also offered the organic strawberries to patients.

    6) Prince Charles visits St Georges hospital

    7) Replication network - As part of the Hospital Food project, a practical study group has been set up to replicate the projects successes in other parts of the public sector, such as in other hospitals and schools. Member of the replication network are either working in sustainable public procurement, or have other expertise which would help disseminate the successes of the project, for example those involved in similar work in NHS Trusts in Cornwall.

    8) Working party - The Hospital Food Project working party advises and steers the project, and reports to the London. Food Link working party. The group, which meets every few months, consists of experts in food procurement, sustainable development, organic farming and the healthcare sector.

    9) Organic dairy farm

    10) Local/organic milk supply

    11) Working party - The Hospital Food Project working party advises and steers the project, and reports to the London. Food Link working party. The group, which meets every few months, consists of experts in food procurement, sustainable development, organic farming and the healthcare sector.

    12) Economic and health evaluations - The New Economics Foundation will be carrying out an economic evaluation of the project using the "Local Multiplier 3" tool which enables assessment of how a particular organisation impacts the local economy, and how to improve that impact. We hope to measure over the course of the project how the hospitals spending circulates within (or leaves!) the economy of London and the South East. The overall objective of the Health Evaluation is to assess the impact of sourcing changes, and, where possible, how these impact on food choices, knowledge and attitudes towards healthier eating amongst patients, staff and other customers of hospital catering services. Both evaluations are due to run until the end of the project (Nov/Dec 2005).

    13) Distribution research - This report aims to explore the distribution barriers which exist for local/organic suppliers in the South East to access London, and for purchasing organisations (e.g.hospitals) to receive locally made and distributed foods. The report looks at barriers to supply hospitals, and also the London food market in general. It is due to be published at the end of the first year of the project.

    14) Lord Whitty visits the Royal Brompton hospital

    15) Distribution research - This report aims to explore the distribution barriers which exist for local/organic suppliers in the South East to access London, and for purchasing organisations (e.g.hospitals) to receive locally made and distributed foods. The report looks at barriers to supply hospitals, and also the London food market in general. It is due to be published at the end of the first year of the project.

    16) Economic evaluation and health evaluation - The New Economics Foundation will be carrying out an economic evaluation of the project using the "Local Multiplier 3" tool which enables assessment of how a particular organisation impacts the local economy, and how to improve that impact. We hope to measure over the course of the project how the hospitals spending circulates within (or leaves!) the economy of London and the South East. The overall objective of the Health Evaluation is to assess the impact of sourcing changes, and, where possible, how these impact on food choices, knowledge and attitudes towards healthier eating amongst patients, staff and other customers of hospital catering services. Both evaluations are due to run until the end of the project (Nov/Dec 2005).

    17) Hospitals