Sustainable Food Procurement in the UK

1. Sustainable Food Procurement in the UK • Mark Stein • Salford University Business School • Retired Economic Development Officer Tameside Council Greater Manchester

2. What I will be discussing • What were the drivers for change in UK? Seeking better school food Making public procurement “sustainable” • What has happened with school food? • What kind of results have been achieved? • What were the main challenges? • Some tips for Finnish colleagues

3. Drivers for change • Central government policy • At times it has focussed on improving children’s health 1906 1944 2005-2009 • At other times the emphasis has been on cutting back public expenditure and the role of elected local councils 1979-1997 2010-2015

4. 19th Century Industrial Revolution • Growth of Cities • Under-paid workers • Hungry children

5. Anglo Boer War 1899-1902 • Thousands of men medically unfit to serve in the army • Fears for “National Efficiency”

6. National Efficiency • England needs well fed children who • Will stay awake in school • And grow up to be productive workers • & healthy soldiers

7. 1906 Provision of Meals Act • Royal Commn on Physical Deterioration • Education [Provision of Meals] Act 1906 • Councils empowered to provide meals free for poor children • At cost price for other children

8. 1944 Education Act • All Councils obliged to provide school meals • Nutrition standards • Complete meals • Variable quality – some very good but often poor image

9. 1984 Act • Removes obligation to provide meals to all children • Nutrition standards abolished • Some Councils closed kitchens and provided only sandwiches to poor children –

10. Race to the bottom • Compulsory Competitive Tendering 1991 • Cut pay • Cut costs • Cheapest possible food

11. Turkey twizzler with chips • Easy to cook • Tasty • High fat • No vitamins • “Cheap processed muck”

12. Poor diet leads to obesity crisis • USA worst in world • UK is worst in Europe • Food-related diseases estimated to cost NHS £4bn-£6bn pa • Only 1 in 5 children eat 5 portions of fruit/veg a day

13. Adult Obesity Rates

14. Obesity - boys

15. Obesity girls

16. What have we in the UK done to make things better? • It started with a few campaigning voices

17. Robin Gourlay – East AyrshireCouncil, Scotland • We want to make school lunches the most appealing time and experience of the school day • That means making the meals as fresh, wholesome and enjoyable as we can, using good local produce wherever possible.It means improving the dining experience - reducing queues, improving the decor and atmosphere of the dining hall, and producing attractive, clearly written menus.And it means delivering good value. Pound for pound, we seek to offer better nutrition and better flavour than any of the other lunchtime options. • We believe that a school meal is the best deal by far. We hope you'll agree

18. Jeanette Orrey

19. Jamie Oliver TV Chef • 2005 TV series “ • Took over kitchen in a London school • Denounced cheap unhealthy school food • Did meals with fresh ingredients at same cost

20. Govt pushed into action • New nutritional requirements • Junk food banned • £150m over 3 years to build new school kitchens • 20 new training centres • Almost £500m over 3 years ring-fenced subsidy • School Food Trust est 2005 - £15m

21. Food regulations implemented in England • Sept 2006 all schools implement Interim Standards – “green” foods to be provided daily “amber” foods limited and “red” foods banned • Sept 2007 standards extended to vending machines, snacks served at break time • Nutrient-based standards: for average school meal maximum amount of fat, saturated fat, sugars, sodium and minimum carbohydrate protein fibre vitamins A and C folate calcium zinc • Primary schools to implement these by Sept 08 and secondary schools by Sept 2009

22. I now want to explain about sustainable procurement Sustainable Procurement is a process whereby organisations meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves value for money on a whole life basis in terms of generating benefits not only to the organisation, but also to society and the economy, while minimising damage to the environment.” 2006 National Strategy

23. Seeking benefits of Procurement • Environmental – Trying to save the planet • Social - eg healthy diets for children • Economic – creating local jobs

24. Offering opportunities for local suppliers • Many UK councils try this • EU regs - cannot specify “local” • Break up contracts • Talk to possible suppliers • Adjust specifications • Distribution hubs for small suppliers

25. Food: Key environmental issues. • Climate change - “the greenhouse gas footprint of the UK food chain is estimated 22% of emissions associated with UK economic activity.” Defra • Biodiversity - collapsing fish stocks, intensive farming , clearance of rainforest to produce meat, feed or palm oil. • Transport – environmental impact of food miles • Food waste – an estimated 18-20 million tonnes pa in the UK • Water – agriculture uses an estimated 70% of global water use

26. Key Concept: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)- understanding the impacts of food production • LCA is a technique used to calculate the environmental impacts • associated with the different stages in a products lifecycle. A range of • environmental variables can be measured but currently it is most • commonly applied to the measurement of carbon footprints. • A carbon footprint represents the sum total of emissions associated • with the life stages of a given product. In the case of food it may • include the production phase, processing, packaging and • Transportation, preparation and in some cases disposal.

27. Seasonal Menus Whether fruit and vegetables are in season locally can be very important re energy use and contribution to climate change. You need to align menus with seasonal production cycles of your local suppliers

28. Palm Oil • Found in many processed products and cooking oil • Production leads to deforestation in SE Asia • Ask suppliers if products contain Certified Sustainable Palm Oil

29. Sustainable Fish • Use fish certified to Marine Stewardship Council standards • Seek to remove threatened species eg cod and seek substitutes

30. Reducing meat usage • Desirable for healthy diet & carbon reduction • Meat Free days [Manchester, Brighton] • Reducing meat % in recipes

31. Now I wish to talk about • Alliance of four English NGOs - Soil Association, Focus on Food, Garden Organic and the Health Education Trust • . Aims to enable children to eat good food, learn where it comes from, how it is produced and how to grow and cook it themselves . Promotes local and organic food. • Funded over five years from the Big Lottery Fund has enabled it to work in every English region with 3,800 schools enrolled and 300,000 children eating Food for Life accredited meals every day.

32. Gold - Great Missenden • 12+ hours of cookery lessons a year, • growing foods in allotment and poly-tunnel, • visiting farmers and food producers • running their own Farmers Market every half-term, named 'Growing Great' Missenden which has raised over £2,650 pa which supports cooking and growing activities and farm visits. • The School's on-site kitchen, cooks fresh meals for the children daily from local and over 30% organic produce, has also led the school to boast a 75% school meal uptake

33. What kind of results have been achieved?

34. ResultsTakeup fell then recovered • New nutrition standards from 2006 led some kids to stop eating school meals • Takeup has recovered • In primary schools rose from 39.3 to 41.4% • In secondary schools rose from 35 to 35.8%

35. Tactics to improve takeup • Improved dining facilities • Cashless payment systems [Software can track exactly what each pupil eats] • Healthy versions of popular dishes • Meal deals, themed days, takeaway containers [imitating takeaway shops] • Social events at lunchtimes

36. Food for Life Three evaluation reports • Good for children’s health – 28% increase in primary children eating 5 a day • Good for tackling inequality - improved takeup of free meals • Good for improving education • Good for local businesses

37. Jamie’s school dinners improved exam performance • This was the finding of a study by Essex University of Greenwich pupils • They did better in science & English compared to those in neighbouring boroughs

38. The Future - disappointment? • Worst case scenario • Under the impact of spending cuts quality will fall and so will takeup • School catering will become a residual service providing third class meals for those who cannot afford better

39. The Future - Hope • People will continue to see school food as a positive thing • To teach children and their parents about healthy eating

40. Tips for Finnish colleagues • Involve children, parents and teachers [as in Food for Life Partnership] • Involve the smaller suppliers • Adjust what you are offering to your customers • Look at software used in UK

41. Any questions? • Mark Stein • Salford University Business School markstein2010@live.co.uk