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“Food in schools, nurseries, hospitals and universities sets a vital example to support people in adopting healthy and sustainable diets. The Food for Life Catering Mark gives caterers a step-by-step framework for change. The Food for Life Partnership builds on this work to educate and inspire children and their families about food.”  Emma Hockridge, Soil Association (which leads Food for Life), also member of the London Food Board

The Food for Life Catering Mark is a way for caterers in every sector to gain recognition for serving food that is tasty, freshly prepared, free from undesirable additives, better for the environment, and better for animal welfare. The Catering Mark has three awards to recognise good practice: bronze, silver and gold, offering stepping stones towards good practice. By summer 2011, over 400,000 Catering Mark-accredited meals were being served daily in the UK. More than half the London boroughs now have Food for Life Catering Mark menus in the majority of their schools, and the standards are also being taken up by hospitals, universities and early years settings.

The Food for Life Partnership builds on this work to champion a whole school approach and is working with over 4,000 schools in England to enable children to eat good food, learn where it comes from and how to grow and cook it themselves. The Food for Life Partnership (FFLP) has been independently evaluated (reference 1), with impressive results:

• Twice as many FFLP primary schools received Ofsted ratings of Outstanding after participation.
• There was a 28% increase in primary school-age children reporting eating five portions of fruit or vegetables a day.
• 45% of parents reported their family eating more vegetables as a direct result of FFLP.
• Free school meal take-up went up 13 percentage points on average in FFLP schools.
• For every £1 invested in Food for Life menus the economic, social and environmental return for the local authority is over £3.

It is also very important that London Boroughs continue to monitor school meal take-up and take-up of free school meals. Both of these are crucial measures for helping make a school meal service viable and for monitoring the benefits of school meals for children from low-income backgrounds.

“Schools that take part in Food for Life show real commitment to introducing children to good, wholesome food and understanding where their food comes from. Many also link their food activities to parts of the curriculum like science, geography, art and citizenship. In some cases they have even grown enough food for their school canteen to use.”  Stephanie Wood, School Food Matters, supporting schools working towards a Food for Life award, also member of the London Food Board

What can London Boroughs do? Achieve a Food for Life Catering Mark for the Borough’s catering, and commit to supporting the work of the Food for Life Partnership in schools.

Contact Mike Bond, email: mbond@soilassociation.org, web: www.soilassociation.org/cateringmark

References

1. Good food for all: The impact of the for Life Partnership, summary of research by University of the West of England Bristol, Cardiff University, NFER and the New Economics Foundation, 2011