The council, which first received the FFLSH Bronze award in 2012, is now serving around 3,600 nutritious, sustainable and locally-sourced Food for Life meals in its 68 primary and early years sites every day.
Stirling Council’s journey to the Food for Life Served Here (FFLSH) award began at the low carbon Stirling seminar in 2011, when the council recognised the potential of Food for Life to reduce their carbon footprint, improve food education for children, add value and quality to food in schools, and provide local employment opportunities for a skilled workforce.
The council gained the FFLSH Bronze award in 2012, and celebrated upgrading to Silver in 2014. They were the first local authority in Scotland to upgrade and achieve the Silver award.
'Good for health, environment and local economy'
As an FFLSH Silver award holder, the council ensures at least five percent of its school meals’ budget is spent on organic produce. This is in addition to meeting the FFLSH Bronze award standards, which include ensuring that a minimum of 75 percent of dishes are freshly prepared from unprocessed ingredients. Meals are also free from undesirable trans fats, sweeteners and additives, and use free range eggs, higher welfare meat and ingredients from sustainable and ethical sources.
As part of the upgrade to Silver, organic milk is served in all Stirling Council primary schools. Pupils enjoy meals including farm assured steak pie with mashed potato and seasonal vegetables, and Italian bean bake with seasonal vegetables.
Local authorities receive the FFLSH certification following an independent assessment and inspection to ensure the food being served in schools across the local authority is good for pupils’ health, good for the environment and good for the local economy. The programme is run by Soil Association Scotland and funded by Scottish Government.
Nutritious food is key to success for young people
Convener of Stirling Council’s Children and Young People Committee Councillor, Margaret Brisley, said: “We are delighted to renew our Food for Life Served Here Silver award for the 10th successive year – this is a fantastic achievement by our Catering Officers and Facilities Management Team.
“Good quality food and nutritious school meals are key to the success of our children and young people.
“Our involvement with this initiative has also encouraged our young people to consider the importance of food and local produce. A great example of this is the Chef’s Apprentice programme at Dunblane Primary School, which enables P6 pupils to learn more about cooking as a valuable life skill.
“A decade of affiliation with the Food for Life Served Here Silver award, underlines our commitment to the importance of continuing to provide high-quality food within our communities.”
Mairi Gougeon, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, said: ““Food for Life Served Here provides an important mechanism to help people enjoy food that is local, healthy and environmentally sustainable. Stirling Council’s efforts and success is a prime example of the collaborative working that is needed to help make Scotland a Good Food Nation.
“I’d like to congratulate Stirling Council for renewing their Food for Life Served Here Silver Award for the tenth year in a row. This achievement highlights the team’s ongoing passion for putting good food on the plate for our young people.
“I would encourage other public sector organisations who wish to make their menus more sustainable to contact the Food for Life Scotland team to learn more.”
'Huge achievement'
Sarah Duley, Head of Food, Soil Association Scotland, said: “Congratulations to Stirling Council for 10 years of fresh, local and organic school meals through the Food for Life Served Here programme. This is a huge achievement and shows that staff are dedicated to providing pupils with a hot, nutritious meal that’s healthy, freshly prepared and sustainably produced.
“We are delighted to recognise Stirling Council for continuing to put more local, organic food on school plates and for supporting Scotland’s food businesses and Good Food Nation ambitions.”