Footprint report reveals challenges to conquer in education catering
Jayne Jones, national chair of ASSIST FM, said: “The pandemic has exposed the sheer scale of food inequality that exists for many children and young people. School catering teams have always worked to balance that inequality, but now that this is more widely known, there is an opportunity to address it once and for all.
“The impact of the pandemic on school food goes beyond just our children, young people and our own staff: we have all seen how the food and drink supply chain has been impacted too.
“Those suppliers remain our critical partners, and public sector food has been important in enabling them to continue to operate when the rest of hospitality has been closed. We have lessons to explore on their behalf, too.”
Brakes Scotland, CRB Cunninghams and Sodexo are partners of the Footprint report. At Brakes Scotland conquering the challenges in education catering during the Covid-19 crisis was the number one priority.
Niamh Sweeney, teacher and executive member of the National Education Union, added: “We need to go back to the stance that food is important in education. It teaches social skills, sharing, communication and nutrition for a healthy life.
“The purpose of education is to enable students to become good citizens who can contribute to society – not just pass an exam – and good food and an understanding of nutrition is crucial to this.”
The report created a checklist for action:
- Push for new policy: lobby for financial school caterer support
- Adopt a collaborative mind-set
- Adopt agile management approaches
- Embrace menu & delivery innovations
- Support school food standards and the levelling up agenda
- Increase supply chain collaboration
- Sustainability
- Prevent food waste
- Don’t give up on disposables
- Consider cleaning
- Support staff and their wellbeing
Read the full report below: