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The council, which first received the award in 2021, is now serving over 8,000 nutritious, sustainable and locally-sourced Food for Life meals across 67 sites, including secondary schools, primary schools and nurseries.   

Catering teams work with Glasgow based supplier McLays to ensure they are serving as much Scottish fruit and vegetables as possible. West Dunbartonshire Council also purchases all its milk from Muller Dairy in East Kilbride, all red meat on the menu is QMS Scotch beef or pork and bread is bought from McGhees bakery in Glasgow.

The bronze award recognises:

• A minimum of 75% of dishes are freshly prepared from unprocessed ingredients
• Meals are free from undesirable trans fats, sweeteners, additives and all genetically modified ingredients
• Catering teams use free range eggs, higher welfare meat and ingredients from sustainable and ethical sources

To communicate seasonality to the children in nursery and primary schools, catering staff run sessions to show them what local produce has gone into the latest seasonal dish. 

Sarah Duley, head of food at Food for Life Scotland, said: “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 West Dunbartonshire for continuing to put more good food on school plates and for supporting Scotland’s food businesses and Good Food Nation ambitions.”