Eleven years of FFLSH Silver for Stirling
Picture: A pupil helps with the school meals service at Dunblane Primary School.
Stirling Council’s catering team are celebrating after the council renewed its Food for Life Served Here (FFLSH) Silver certification for the eleventh year in a row. The council is serving around 3,600 nutritious, sustainable and locally-sourced Food for Life meals in its 38 primary schools and 29 nurseries every day.
That’s around 684,000 meals that benefit young people, the local economy and the environment each year.
Stirling Council gained the FFLSH Bronze certification in 2012, and celebrated upgrading to Silver in 2014. They were the first local authority in Scotland to upgrade and achieve the Silver certification.
As part of the upgrade to Silver, organic milk is served in all Stirling Council primary schools. Pupils enjoy meals including farm assured steak pie with mashed potato and seasonal vegetables, and Italian bean bake with seasonal vegetables.
Local authorities receive the award following an independent assessment and inspection to ensure the food being served in schools across the local authority is good for pupils’ health, good for the environment and good for the local economy. The scheme is run by Soil Association Scotland and funded by Scottish Government.
Tracey Walker, Menu Development Manager with Stirling Council, said: “We’re delighted to have renewed our Food for Life Served Here certification for the 11th year in a row. Every day our hard-working staff provides healthy, locally-sourced and nutritious food and this award is further recognition of the standard of their work across school settings.
“It’s about more than just good food – it’s about supporting local producers, reducing our environmental impact, and giving our young people the best possible start. We’re proud to be part of a programme that aligns so closely with our values and priorities.”
As an FFLSH Silver certification holder, Stirling Council ensures at least five percent of the ingredients budget for their service is spent on organic produce. This is in addition to meeting the FFLSH Bronze certification standards, which include ensuring 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.
Stirling Council’s Social Work and Education Convener, Cllr Danny Gibson said: “We’re incredibly proud to once again renew our Food For Life Served Here certification. The efforts of our Catering Officers and Facilities Management Team over the last 11 years have ensured that we’ve maintained a high standard of nutritious school meals to help fuel the learning and development of our young people.
“Our involvement within the Food For Life scheme underlines our commitment to not only providing good quality meals for school pupils but supporting local producers in a way that keeps our school meals sustainable.”
Sarah Duley, Head of Food, Food for Life Scotland, said: “Congratulations to Stirling Council for eleven years of putting good food on the plate through the Food for Life Served Here programme. We are delighted to recognise Stirling Council for continuing to put more local, organic food on school plates and for supporting Scotland’s food businesses and contributing to Scotland’s Good Food Nation plans.”