The latest Bridging the Gap report from Sustain argues public sector food is one of the biggest commercial levers available to Government that can help build local economic resilience, as well as bring in significant health, wellbeing and environmental benefits.
The report demonstrates how integrating more organic fruit and vegetables into school meals could drive a substantial market for UK growers. Supporting small and medium-sized suppliers to access £5 billion per year worth of public sector contracts would keep profits in local communities and boost economic resilience.
The research shines a light on three school pilots located in Scotland, England and Wales and argues that these regional pilots can be replicated and scaled up for the rest of the UK. The three pilots were:
- Wales: The Welsh Veg in Schools pilot rebuilt a local supply base by connecting small organic growers with school catering contracts.
- Scotland: In Aberdeen, the Give Peas a Chance! project introduced locally grown organic split peas into school meals.
- England: Two primary schools partnered with Growing Communities to source organic produce from local farmers in South East England.
The school pilots demonstrated that increased public investment not only supported local farmers but also led to over 75,000 children, a third of whom live in low income communities, eating organic fruit and vegetables in their school meals.
Kiloran O’Leary, programme officer at Bridging the Gap Sustain, said: “Food system reliance on imports puts the UK in an extremely vulnerable position and threatens our long-term resilience as a nation. We need to support our own local agroecological farmers instead, and what better way than getting more UK-grown organic fruit and veg into schools so our children can benefit too?
“Our pilots show that investment in supply chains that connect organic farmers to schools can deliver huge dividends for local communities. Now it’s time for the Government to scale them up for the whole of the UK.”
Sustain is calling on the Government to meet their commitment to get local and sustainable food in the public sector by supporting small and medium sized growers and investing in local food infrastructure.
Read the full report Bridging the Gap: How to make school food work for children, farmers and planet.