West Dunbartonshire care homes gain Bronze sustainable catering award
Care home caterers in West Dunbartonshire have achieved a national award for serving fresh and sustainable menus, in a first for public sector food in Scotland.
West Dunbartonshire HSCP caterers at Crosslet House in Dumbarton and Queens Quay House in Clydebank gained the Food for Life Served Here (FFLSH) Bronze award, for serving food that’s good for health, the environment and the local economy. These sites serve more than 50,000 meals each year. West Dunbartonshire Council also holds the certification for its school meals service.
Care Homes Catering Manager Robert Patterson received the FFLSH Bronze certificate from Food for Life Scotland Menu and Catering Skills Officer Esra Buyukbingol at a presentation at Crosslet House.
The Food for Life Scotland (FFLS) programme, led by Soil Association Scotland and funded by Scottish Government since 2009, provides a framework through which local authorities and public sector sites can ensure they are serving good food. This is done by meeting a set of standards to achieve the FFLSH certification at Bronze, Silver or Gold level. There are currently 17 Scottish local authorities that hold the Food for Life Served Here certification at either Bronze, Silver or Gold for school meals services.
Since 2024, Food for Life Scotland’s remit has expanded to support caterers to achieve the certification in the wider public sector. Crosslet House and Queens Quay House become the first care homes to do so, emulating the recent success of various universities and colleges, the Scottish Courts and Scottish Government workplaces who are all now using the Food for Life Served Here certification standards to ensure they’re serving more fresh, local and sustainable food. The expansion of Food for Life Scotland means the team’s support is now also open to hospital settings, prisons and publicly run leisure facilities and visitor attractions.
As part of the Food for Life Served Here Bronze certification, West Dunbartonshire care home caterers ensure that a minimum of 75 percent of dishes are freshly prepared from unprocessed ingredients. Meals are also free from undesirable trans fats, sweeteners and additives, and use free range eggs, higher welfare meat and ingredients from sustainable and ethical sources.
Caterers worked closely with vegetable supplier McLays to incorporate more seasonal ingredients in the annual menu, which are used in soups and scratch-cooked baking dishes. The menu now includes dishes such as Ayrshire Pork Roast, and Red Tractor Roast Turkey with Scottish roast potatoes & Seasonal Vegetables.
Fiona Taylor, Head of Health and Community Care, West Dunbartonshire HSCP: “West Dunbartonshire HSCP Residential Care Homes are committed to providing a high standard of nutrition for all our residents.
“The Food for Life Served Here Bronze certification allowed catering staff to further enhance their menus and source environmentally sustainable and ethical food, making healthy eating easy. They are also proud to be championing local food producers.
“I commend all those who worked so hard to achieve this, it really was a team effort and reflects the ethos of person-centered care. We look forward to achieving the Silver certification next!”
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs Mairi Gougeon said: “I would like to congratulate West Dunbartonshire Council for achieving the Food for Life (FFL) Served Here bronze certification for its care homes, Crosslet House and Queens Quay. As the first care homes to join the scheme they really demonstrate their commitment to fresh cooked meals and are leading the way in providing good food in Scotland's care homes.
“I hope other public sector organisations and local authorities recognise this achievement and I urge them to work with FFL Scotland to achieve an award and help contribute to making Scotland a Good Food Nation.”
Sarah Duley, Head of Food, Soil Association Scotland, said: “Congratulations to the caterers at Crosslet House and Queens Quay for achieving the Food for Life Served Here Bronze award for their meals service. We're delighted to see care home sites achieving the Food for Life Served Here certification, and serving more sustainable and climate-friendly food to their residents every day. The Food for Life Scotland team can offer support to public sector caterers across Scotland, to follow in the footsteps of West Dunbartonshire Council and our other public sector award holders in Scotland.”