Local Food Marketing
School Meals
Never has there been a greater focus on the need for healthy, locally sourced ingredients in school meals. Jamie Oliver captured the publics’ imagination with a well needed critique of the current state of affairs, and RuralScapes are proudly helping Shropshire and Cheshire County Councils step up to the challenges ahead.
Shropshire
RuralScapes have been involved in an exciting county wide initiative to improve local opportunities to bid for public sector contracts, in particular supplying produce for school meals. Working closely with the County Councils sustainability team and Shire Services catering we have focussed on fruit and vegetable production, raising awareness of opportunities and building bridges between producers and the relevant County Council departments. There has been an enormous amount of goodwill towards the project, both from producers and the County Council, and while the initiative is in its infancy, the Greengrocers contract comes up for grabs later in 2007 so we will hopefully see everyone’s hard work bear fruit!
In a separate initiative we have succeeded in getting Huw Ellis’s organic milk drinks (http://www.classic-organic.co.uk/) into 12 Shropshire schools.
Cheshire
In Cheshire the focus has also been on fruit and vegetable producers. RuralScapes have been working with the County Council and their chosen suppliers, Ralph Livesey wholesalers, to direct local produce into school. Several models have been explored for supplying produce and the past year has seen the successful supply of Cheshire tomatoes and apples (http://www.eddisbury.net/) into schools, as well as an increasing awareness at all levels of the need for change.
While the two projects have come to an end, work by both authorities to increase local, healthy food in school meals continues. If you are interested in knowing more, check out the following websites:
Defra ‘Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative’ - www.defra.gov.uk/farm/policy/sustain/procurement/index.htm
Soil Association ‘Food For Life’ scheme - www.soilassociation.org/foodforlife
Shropshire County Council school meals - www.shropshire.gov.uk/schoolmeals.nsf
Cheshire County Council school meals - www.myschoollunch.co.uk/cheshire/