Conservation groups celebrate sustainable fish in new School Food Standards

Press statement, for immediate release, 17th June 2014

Marine conservation groups have welcomed the new School Food Standards launched today [1], for which guidance includes the encouragement for school cooks to use verifiably sustainable fish and to exclude endangered fish from school menus.

“It’s vital that children are introduced to the importance of fish sustainability from a young age,” said Ruth Westcott, coordinator of the nationwide Sustainable Fish Cities campaign [2], which has advised government, schools, food companies and caterers on sustainable fish standards. “They are growing up in a world in which fish stocks are under severe pressure from over-fishing. The fish served up on school menus must exclude endangered species, and come only from sustainable sources, showing our younger generation that – by their food choices – they can play their part in saving fish and marine wildlife from damaging fishing practices. Today’s announcement also sends a clear message to the catering industry that they must clean up their fish supply chains and serve only verifiably sustainable fish.”

“Up and down the country, more and more towns and cities are concerned about the healthiness and security of their food supply,” said Ben Reynolds, one of the national coordinators of the Sustainable Food Cities network that works with 35 cities around the UK [3]. “National School Food Standards will help children everywhere to eat healthier and more sustainable food. Oily fish is good for heart and brain health, so all schools should use the power of their catering contracts to buy fish only from sources that are guaranteed to be well managed now, and will continue to be managed sustainably for generations of children to come.”

The new School Food Standards will be compulsory for state-run schools in England; voluntary for existing academies (about half of secondary schools); and required as part of funding agreements for any new academies set up since spring 2014. The Standards have a preamble that makes reference to sustainable food, and the accompanying guidance encourages schools and their caterers to use verifiably sustainable fish. This can be achieved by excluding fish identified as ‘fish to avoid’ by marine scientists at the Marine Conservation Society (www.fishonline.org), and by serving only those identified as ‘fish to eat’, including fish that has been certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC, www.msc.org). 

The MSC also runs the popular Fish and Kids educational programme with schools, helping children to understand where their fish comes from (www.fishandkids.msc.org). 

Press contact: Ruth Westcott on 0203 5596 777 or ruth@sustainweb.org

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Notes to editors:

1. Find out more about the new School Food Standards on the School Food Plan website: www.schoolfoodplan.com 
2. The Sustainable Fish Cities campaign is run by marine conservation and food organisations working on sustainable seafood issues, see: www.sustainweb.org/sustainablefishcity/about/. The group includes: the Marine Conservation Society; Marine Stewardship Council; Pisces Responsible Fish Restaurants; SeaWeb; Fish2Fork; and Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming (which coordinates the campaign): www.fishcities.net 
3. The Sustainable Food Cities network is an alliance of public, private and third sector organisations using food as a vehicle for positive change. It is coordinated by Food Matters, Soil Association and Sustain, funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, and is promoting Sustainable Fish Cities during 2014: www.sustainablefoodcities.org. Twelve of the towns and cities in the Sustainable Food Cities network launched their own Fish Cities campaigns on World Oceans Day, 8th June 2014, see: www.sustainweb.org/sustainablefishcity/fish_news/jun14_sustainable_fish_cities_launch_uk_wide/