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Food for Life described East Ayrshire Council as ‘trailblazers’ for showing what is possible with school meals as they are committed to serving fresh, local and sustainable food.

As a gold Food for Life Award holder, East Ayrshire Council spend at least 15% of the ingredients budget for their service on organic produce, source a significant proportion of ingredients from UK producers and take further steps to make healthy eating easier.

Mark Hunter, strategic lead food and facilities support for East Ayrshire Council, said: “Food has value and when the food is good and includes benefits to sustainability, the environment and health, it is a no-brainer to adapt our menus for the Food for Life scheme.  

“But it goes beyond that – you can see the benefit to the local economy through community wealth building by ensuring contracts for our local suppliers. This means the suppliers who join the scheme are guaranteed a monthly income during a turbulent economic period.”

East Ayrshire Council has built strong networks with local suppliers including A&A Spittal, a farm in Auchinleck, who supply them with fresh fruit and vegetables.

Corrie Mains Farm started free range egg production with 700 hens and, as demand has increased, now have 20,000. Since 2005, their eggs have been sold direct to East Ayrshire schools.

East Ayrshire Council’s partnerships with local businesses show the Food for Life Served Here gold Award is a powerful framework for local authorities to deliver school meals are good for health, the environment and the economy. Those partnerships are having a direct positive impact on school pupils, who are eating fresh, local and sustainable school meals every day.