10th January 2006
NEWS
SCHOOL FOOD
Brakes joins Marine Stewardship Council in promoting sustainable fish in schools
From the beginning of December 2005, Brakes, the largest supplier of food to schools in the UK, joined forces with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to implement the MSC’s
Fish and Kids project. Fish and Kids, funded by Defra for 3 years, aims to offer sustainable seafood choices to schools in England. As part of the project Brakes will develop new MSC-labelled products to add to its existing school meals range. For more information visit www.msc.org School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme
The latest results from the Pesticide Residues Committee’s (PRC) programme of pesticide residue testing in fruit and vegetables supplied to school children under the Department of Health’s School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme were published on 15th December. The report is available on http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/uploadedfiles/Web_Assets/PRC/SFVSsummer2005report.pdf . Out of 72 samples, 8 were free from residues, 61 contained residues within the Maximum Residue Level (MRL) and 3 contained residues above the MRL. An evaluation of the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme and its impact on the diet of children participating in the scheme was published in September 2005. The report demonstrates that children ate significantly more fruit while participating in the scheme. The full report is available on www.5aday.nhs.uk. School meals in Kirklees delivered by taxis at a cost of £25,000 per year
Kirklees Council spends more than £25,000 a year on delivering school dinners by private taxi to schools without their own preparation facilities. For more details see: http://ichuddersfield.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=16517287&method=full&siteid=50060-name_page.html
School meals in Northern Ireland
The Department of Education, in conjunction with the Education and Library Boards and other school authorities, is introducing new nutritional standards for school meals in Northern Ireland. The Department has provided additional funding to support the initiative which will mostly be used to raise the food and nutritional content value of school meals to 50p in primary schools, and 60p in post-primary, in line with developments in England. Source: Hansard 24 November 2005, 2194W
School food in Scotland HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) published a report, Monitoring and Implementation of Hungry for Success:
A Whole School Approach to School Meals in Scotland which looks at progress with the programme in 33 primary schools and 6 special schools between December 2004 and June 2005. Most of the schools inspected have adopted health education programmes and most local authorities have been developing menus that meet the Scottish Nutrient Standards for School Lunches using the H4S nutrient analysis software. HMIE suggests that more work is needed to ensure that pupils are encouraged to make healthier choices. To view the full report visit www.hmie.gov.uk. Plans are now underway to extend implementation of Hungry for Success across all secondary schools by December 2006. The Scottish Centre for Social Research also surveyed around a quarter of all Scottish primary schools and all local authorities to assess the success or otherwise of the free fresh fruit scheme (part of the Hungry for Success initiative). 90% of those surveyed reported that giving primary one and two pupils free fresh fruit was improving youngsters’ eating habits and 60% said that pupils were eating more fresh fruit and vegetables at lunchtime as a result of the scheme. For more information see http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2005/12/28144352
OTHER NEWS
Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative (PSFPI)
The PSFPI continues to receive a good press with, for example, Jonathon Porritt referring to the "excellent work already achieved through the public sector food procurement initiative" in his article "Hard to Swallow" in The Guardian on 4 January: http://society.guardian.co.uk/societyguardian/story/0,,1677089,00.html. Defra's Food Procurement Unit is grateful to all those engaged in taking the initiative forward within the public and voluntary sectors and farming and food industries. More information has been added to the PSFPI web site including some new case studies. If you know of any initiatives that have been undertaken to improve catering within public bodies or to develop the supply side to them, please send a case study to roger.hinds@defra.gsi.gov.uk. An advice note is given at the top of the "case studies" page at http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/sustain/procurement/casestudies/index.htm
Prison food The National Audit Office (NAO) is currently undertaking a study of catering and physical exercise within prisons. The study includes research that shows that the average public sector Prison Service daily food cost per prisoner for 2004-5 was £1.85. Prisons are required to meet the minimum nutritional standards as laid down in Prison Service Order 5000 (Catering Manual) but there is no set financial formula that prisons are required to follow on the cost of each meal. Source: Hansard 12th December 2005, 1714-5W
Hospital food The results of the Publication of Patient Environment Action Team (PEAT) survey, 2004-5 show an overall improvement in the standard of cleanliness and food in the NHS with more patients feeling that the meals were acceptable. However, 47.2% patients reported that they felt hospital food was either good or excellent in 2005 compared to 58.4% in 2004. Further information is available at http://www.gnn.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=181093&NewsAreaID=2 Food and older people in care
Paul Burstow and Bob Rusell have tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) drawing attention to research by the European Nutrition for Health Alliance, which indicates a prevalence of malnutrition in older people in care homes at 60-100%. The EDM also calls for nutritional standards for older people in all care settings equivalent to those announced for school children. The full text of the EDM, which has been signed by 51 MPs, is available at: http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=29549&SESSION=875
New US law allowing American schools to sell milk anywhere at any time will force changes to exclusivity contracts between schools and soft drink firms. The new law is intended to ban the exclusive deals some schools have with soft drink companies and to encourage the sale and marketing of 100% fluid milk in schools. Schools must make the necessary changes to their supply contracts with soft drinks firms by the beginning of the 2006-7 school year. For more information visit http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=64478 .
Organic products introduced in US hospitals. St. Luke’s hospital, Duluth is the first health system in Minnesota to buy hormone-free milk, and organic pork, vegetables, fruit and dairy for its kitchens. Other hospitals and schools on the west and east coasts are already doing the same. Some hospitals also organise farmer’s markets for their staff as a way to introduce them to organic and local foods. For more details visit http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/local/13412048.htm .
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Growing the Future conference report
A report by Growing the Future / Tyfu’r Dyfodol on their conference last year that discussed organic and local food in school meals and education. The report includes summaries of the main presentations and is available from http://www.organic.aber.ac.uk/schoolsnet/conference/GTFSept05.pdf Transatlantic public food project - Food for Health, Learning and Livelihoods (F4H)
On 2nd December 2005, a seminar was held in Paris to discuss the F4H project and to share experiences on sustainable food procurement across Europe and the USA. Participants from Italy, France, Denmark, UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, the WHO, Marine Stewardship Council and the USA were present. Copies of presentations and a summary of the event will be available on www.alimenterra.org by the end of January, and details of the project are available from cpeckham@alimenterra.org.
Elliot Morley’s speech at the third Sustainable Procurement Task Force meeting, 5th December 2005 His speech is available on http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/ministers/speeches/em051205.htm and includes the message that “Value for Money policy and Efficiency Review need not present a barrier to sustainable procurement. Public sector purchases should always award contracts on the basis of Whole Life Costing and quality”.
DEFRA publishes its sustainable development action plan, 15th December 2005
Action in the plan include a sustainability audit of key policies, a full review of energy management of the Defra estate and an open meeting for Management Board members to be questioned on Defra’s progress with the action plan. The action plan also refers to Defra’s Sustainable Procurement Strategy, Sustainable Procurement Toolkit, and training framework addressing sustainable procurement. More information can be obtained on www.defra.gov.uk/environment/sustainable/action-plan.htm .
EVENTS COMING UP
All Party Parliamentary Food and Health Forum meeting, 10th January 2006, 6pm
Discussing children’s food, including diet in children’s early years, school food and children’s food outside the school environment. Speakers include Dr Helen Crawley on nutrition based standards for school food and Charlie Powell on Sustain’s Children’s Food Bill. For more details contact patricia.constant@centrallobby.com, 020 7222 1265. PSFPI Regional Suppliers Workshops - Spring 2006
Details of workshops that the Government Offices for the Regions are running for existing and potential suppliers of food to the public sector are on the PSFPI web site at http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/sustain/procurement/pdf/workshops-free.pdf. They are designed to provide farmers, growers and other suppliers with the chance to learn about the PSFPI and the opportunities open to producers to supply the public sector either directly or, if lacking the capacity, indirectly through primary suppliers such as wholesalers, contract caterers, regional distributors and local butchers.
Cleanmed Europe 2006, Stolkholm, May 29-30th 2006
A conference looking at ecologically sustainable health care systems, including sustainable food procurement. For more details visit http://www.cleanmed.org/
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