UK: Pearson receives Food for Life catering mark

The Soil Association has announced that Pearson PLC is the first FTSE 100 company (Financial Times share index; 100 larget UK firms listed on London stock exchange) to be serving meals to its UK staff that are guaranteed to be healthy, ethical and environmentally sustainable. Person also was the first global media company to commit to becoming climate neutral, a goal achieved on schedule in 2009 and renewed every year since. 3,660 daily meals, served at six Pearson sites, now meet the Soil Association’s silver and gold Food for Life Catering Mark standards. So far, there are only very few companies whose workplace catering is certified in the UK.

Peter Hughes, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Pearson said: “More than ever before, we believe it is important for companies to take practical action to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability. Our staff also want to be able to choose their favourite foods and drinks confident in the knowledge that we and our catering partners are doing our best to source from a sustainable food system – with food miles minimised, and organic and local produce prioritised. Our catering partners and the Soil Association helped tremendously with our transition and we hope that more businesses will now support this initiative.”
 

The Catering Mark was launched in February 2009 by the Soil Association to provide independent accreditation of menus on the key issues of healthy food, animal welfare, and environmental sustainability. There are currently 609,000 Catering Mark-approved meals served every day in the UK, including 4,500 schools (currently serving half a million Catering Mark meals a day); 192 children’s nurseries; nine universities; six hospitals; five National Trust visitor sites; and the parliament building in Stormont (Belfast, New Ireland). More information is available here.