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The council, which first received the award in 2014, is now serving over 5,600 nutritious, sustainable and locally-sourced Food for Life meals per day in its 24 primary schools. The bronze award recognises that a minimum of 75% of dishes are freshly prepared from unprocessed ingredients.

East Renfrewshire Council works closely with produce supplier Failte to ensure that they are serving UK produce that’s in season. This includes broccoli, mushrooms, carrot, cabbage, cauliflower, onion, courgette, potatoes, turnip and for fruits pears, blueberries, strawberries and plums.

Councillor Andrew Anderson, convener for education, equalities, culture and leisure, said: “Healthy, tasty and nutritious meals are so important for fuelling our children and young people’s minds to ensure they are ready to learn. We are committed to providing high quality meals to all our pupils and this accreditation is one measure of the excellent service available in East Renfrewshire.”

Many schools in the council have gardens and growing projects. For example, Giffnock Nursery have been growing vegetables and making soups from them.  

Sarah Duley, head of food at Food for Life Scotland, added: “This is a huge achievement and shows that staff are dedicated to providing pupils with a daily hot, nutritious meal that’s healthy, freshly prepared and sustainably produced. We are delighted to recognise East Renfrewshire for continuing to put more good food on school plates and for supporting Scotland’s food businesses and Good Food Nation ambitions.”