Local Food Links

Local Food Links was presented with the Catering Gold Mark by HRH The Prince of Wales on behalf of the Food For Life Partnership on 20 February 2009. 

LFL was the first caterer in the country to meet and even exceed the high standards demanded of this award: 50 percent of all ingredients produced in the local region, 30 percent of all ingredients produced organically, and all animal products sourced from sustainable and humane sources.

 The Press Release about the event follows:

The Prince of Wales presents Soil Association awards to caterers that serve us British meat

On Friday 20 February, The Prince of Wales, will present the Soil Association’s Food for Life Catering Mark awards to leading caterers at Nottingham City Hospital.

The Food for Life Catering Mark is an accreditation scheme that provides a step-by-step route to sustainable catering. Open to caterers in both the public and private sectors, the Mark has three tiers: bronze, silver and gold, with the gold standard requiring the caterer’s menu to be 75% freshly prepared, 50% local and 30% organic [1].

The scheme grew out of the Soil Association’s work with school dinners, and the Catering Mark was originally intended for third party suppliers of food to schools. However, the scheme has now been expanded to include caterers from nurseries, hospitals and sports stadia.

During a speech delivered at the Food for Life Partnership Awards Ceremony in December 2008, The Prince of Wales said:

"Now we are beginning to make progress with healthy eating in schools, we need to tackle how we feed patients in our hospitals. As we are what we eat, and we know that the food we eat makes a difference to our health even when we are not ill, it would seem sensible that the food patients are given, helps rather than hinders, the process of recovery. So we need to encourage hospitals to maximise nutritional benefits by sourcing locally, seasonally and, where possible, organically."

The event will see the first accredited caterers receive their awards, including Local Food Links from Dorset who received the gold accolade for their work with local schools [2].

In the wake of Jamie Oliver's call for us all to choose higher welfare British pork, this new award scheme from the Soil Association - the Food for Life Catering Mark - is helping caterers reassure their customers that the meat they serve exceeds British welfare standards [3].

Explaining the importance of the Mark, Joanna Lewis, Policy Manager at the Soil Association said:

"The Food for Life Catering Mark has been launched in response to public concern about the implications of 'cheap food' for health, animal welfare and the environment. It gives caterers across the public and private sectors a way of proving their commitment to the freshly prepared, ethically sourced food that customers are asking for.

"When eating out, people want reassurance that their food, and their children’s food, is fresh, honest and additive-free. They want to know that the issues they care about, from animal welfare to climate change, have been taken care of.

"The Soil Association’s Food for Life Catering Mark helps leading caterers give their customers that reassurance".

For further information and case studies contact the Soil Association press office :

Clio Turton – 0117 914 2448

Sam Allen – 0117 314 5170

Rikke Bruntse-Dahl - 0117 314 5145

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Or visit http://www.foodforlife.org.uk/resources/catering

Notes to editors

[1] Food for Life menu criteria include:

BRONZE:

- Meals contain no undesirable food additives or hydrogenated fats

- 75% of dishes are freshly prepared

- Meat meets UK welfare standards and eggs are from cage-free hens

- Menus are seasonal

- Well-trained catering staff

- No GM ingredients

SILVER: (in addition to the Bronze criteria)

- A range of local, organic and Fairtrade food is served

- Chicken, eggs and pork products are high welfare (at least Freedom Food or free range – equalling the baseline commitment made by leading supermarkets)

- No fish is served from the Marine Conservation Society ‘fish to avoid list’

- Information is on display about where the food has come from.

GOLD: (in addition to Bronze and Silver criteria)

- At least 30% of ingredients are organic or Marine Stewardship Council certified

- At least 50% of ingredients are locally sourced

- Organic meat, dairy products or eggs are served as a welfare gold standard

- Non-meat dishes are being promoted as part of a balanced, climate-friendly diet

[2] Local Food Links is serving a Food for Life gold menu to 24 schools in Dorset, Shire Services’ has launched a Food for Life silver menu to 136 primary schools in Shropshire and Bath & North East Somerset caterer serves a bronze menu at 66 schools. Hospitals, nurseries and football clubs, like Celtic in Scotland, are also already using the Food for Life Catering Mark guidelines.

Please contact us for case studies.

[3] Food for Life Caterers must serve meat that is farm assured to meet UK animal welfare standards. In practice this means that any chicken and pork served will come from the UK, as UK welfare standards are not met anywhere else in Europe. Organic meat offers the highest standard of welfare and is required by the Gold level of the Food for Life Catering Mark.

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