At last week's Royal Highland Show in Scotland, Richard Lochhead, cabinet secretary for rural affairs and the environment in the Scottish government, announced a £772,000 (€957,000) funding package for Soil Association Scotland, aimed at improving the quality of school meals across the country.
Lochhead said that the Scottish government was 'delighted to be building on its existing support for Soil Association Scotland to enable them to scale up the fantastic Food for Life programme'.
This programme involves support for local authority caterers to meet the Soil Association’s Food for Life Catering Mark standards, guaranteeing food that is freshly prepared, free from additives and better for animal welfare, for school meals.
The bronze, silver and gold levels of the Catering Mark recognise food providers who use local, seasonal, healthy and organic ingredients.
Laura Stewart, director of Soil Association Scotland, commented: “A third of school-age children in Scotland are classed as overweight or obese, and nine in ten do not eat the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables, so providing children with a good meal at school is vital to help stem the rise of diet-related ill-health and help children develop lifelong healthy eating habits.”
No comments yet