UK: 126 caterers receive awards for excellent practice

126 leading UK caterers received awards for excellent practice at a ceremony in London in February. They were rewarded for their commitment to independent standards of ethical and environmentally sustainable food sourcing, and providing freshly-prepared, healthy meals to schools, nurseries, hospitals, care homes, universities, visitor attractions and workplaces all around the country, the Soil Association reports. The caterers who received their Food for Life Catering Mark awards range from the UK's largest catering companies - including Eden Food Service, Compass, Harrison, ISS and Sodexo to cooks working in individual school kitchens.
 

Local authorities are acknowledging the Catering Mark as a guarantee of the quality of the ingredients in the meals they provide, in the wake of the horsemeat scandal. Those who are proud to announce that their caterers meet the standards include: Plymouth City Council, Surrey County Council, Nottingham City Council, Northumberland County Council, Lambeth Council, Richmond Council, and Barnet Council.
 

The Soil Association's Food for Life Catering Mark is an independent catering industry standard. The Bronze, Silver and Gold tiers encourage caterers to make step-by-step progress towards using more local, free range, fair trade and organic ingredients to produce healthier menus. There are currently 761,434 Catering Mark-approved meals served every day in the UK, provided by 126 Catering Mark-awarded caterers at 5,759 sites around the UK, including:

5,146 schools (currently serving 700,418 Catering Mark meals a day)
284 children’s nurseries
15 universities
6 National Trust visitor sites
3 hospitals
2 parliament buildings (Stormont and the Welsh Assembly)